Through the Looking Glass
by Nirvana'sDemise
Summary: The Fourth Shinobi World War may have ended for Naruto and his generation, but when strange shinobi no one can recognize despite their Konoha loyalty emerge, it becomes clear that for others, the Fourth Shinobi World War is just beginning. Co-Written with Nerfherder-han.
1. P1- Morning Dew on Tainted Grass

As his eyelids weighed on him like the moon, Naruto tried to recall what a full night's sleep had been like. When he had first become Hokage, his sleep was already halved, but then Boruto and Himawari came and suddenly he had been lucky to get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. He tried to steady himself every few steps, stumbling now and then as he walked in the hallway to the Hokage's office.

Teetering in front of the door to his office, he realized that it had been unlocked as he lightly pushed it open.

"I must've forgotten it last night…" Despite no one being around, he said the words softly to himself as he walked in. He turned on the lights, and instinctively recoiled as his eyes adjusted. Seating himself, he noticed that the seat had been raised much higher than it normally would. "A prank?"

While he had to hand it to the kids who must've done it, it was an overall dull prank. The mature part of him knew that it was wrong to go into places you know you aren't allowed, but the prankster in his heart just felt that it was rather… weak compared to what he had done as a child.

Although, as he looked back on his past of painting hilarious symbols on the Hokage Rock, he could only imagine how much trouble he had caused for Old Man Third at the time. That man had more patience than he had ever seen in anyone else, and he didn't realize just how much he took that for granted until he had become Hokage. Now, when a kid was doing some big prank, he had to listen to the complaints from so many of the civilians in the village. So, in the grand scale of things, a simple seat raised was nothing.

He began considering possibly taking a nap within the office, but he knew that would be wrong of him. It wouldn't be right for Hinata to have to deal with both kids while he got to sleep peacefully, he knew that much. Parenting required effort on both parts, and he felt bad for how much he lacked at times because of his position. Not to mention, as sweet as Hinata was, he knew that it would end terribly for him if she found out about him resting while she was up at the crack of dawn with Himawari, and then helping Boruto not long after that.

Preparing himself for a long, tiring day, he began to pull papers from the large stacks of paperwork that was often piled up. Normally Shikamaru would be there to help, but given how early it was, Shikamaru wouldn't be there for at least another hour or two. The only reason he would possibly be there earlier is if Temari was in a mood that he found troublesome. If there was one thing about Shikamaru that Naruto would feel bad for, it was the strict nature Temari often had. But, recently with Shikadai, Shikamaru had actually been a great father who helped as much as he possibly could.

It was strange seeing so many of the people he knew grow up along with him, and even stranger seeing them start families. But, that was life. Time passed and he couldn't stop it.

Looking at the first paper in front of him, he began to glance it over. '_Strange movement in the other villages? The Shiwasu clan and the Ningyoushi clan in Takigakure having unorthodox developments? When was this written?' _As he looked to the bottom of the paper, he saw a quickly written signature by none other than Itachi Uchiha. '_Had I asked for old ANBU reports to be brought to the office?'_

However, upon closer inspection, he began noticing that the report had been addressed to Sakura… Perhaps his eyes had been deceiving him though. Setting the paper aside, he began to look at another report.

'_Yakushi Kabuto should be deemed an enemy to the village…'_ Again, a report that would have to have been from years ago, and yet again, another signature from Itachi. What had been going on here? If this was the true prank being played on him, then the children had gone too far and taken and forged documents that they had no place making. Tossing the paper aside in annoyance, Naruto began to run his hands through his hair as he looked around the office.

Suddenly, small things that he hadn't paid attention to before began to become clear to him. The pictures in his office that had been of his parents had been replaced with Sakura's parents, the pictures he had of his family had been replaced with pictures of Sakura, Sasuke, and Sarada. Strangely enough...Sasuke had looked happier than he had ever seen him, as well as had both of his arms. So much began to seem off, and as Naruto felt his heart beating faster, sweat began to form on his forehead.

This...wasn't a prank. This also felt far too real to be genjutsu, and even if it was, Kurama would've let him know.

'_Kurama, what's going on?' _Desperate for answers, Naruto turned to the fox inside of him. However, the answer was less than satisfactory, to say the least.

'_**It beats me, I don't detect any genjutsu. But something seems off, Naruto. Keep your guard up.' **_Groaning to himself, Naruto tried his best to keep his cool. If something or someone had invaded the village, it was his job to know and protect the village from danger.

As he prepared to leave the office to see what else had been off, a snake-masked ANBU member came into the office. "Lord Hokage, we have apprehended a large group of unknown shinobi and kunoichi. We are holding them in the Interrogation Headquarters."

It wasn't a lot, but it might've been a slight bit of light shining on this whole strange situation. If they had something to do with this whole situation, then surely the information would come out. Especially if _he_ was the one leading the interrogation.

"Lord Hokage, we have reports written on each of them, if you would like to come with us to assess them." The ANBU member slowly spoke up again, posture rigid as they held their arms tight to their side. "There are a total of fifteen. One of them should be particularly interesting to you."

Interesting? To him? He couldn't imagine why one would be singled out over the others, the entire situation was...interesting, to put it lightly.

"Alright, I'll come with you. One moment, please." Forming a quick hand seal as the ANBU member left, he created a shadow clone to take his place in the office. "I'm counting on you to keep things in order."

"You've got it!" His clone seemed to have more energy than even he did, being more like the real him than even he had been recently.

Nodding to himself, Naruto walked out to the office to be greeted by a group of four ANBU, including the snake-masked member from before. After they greeted him with respect, the squadron quickly began making their way towards Konoha's Intelligence Division as the sun began to finally break over the horizon.

As they entered the Torture and Interrogation Division's underground offices and headquarters, he was greeted by quite the sight.

To call the group interesting was an understatement. As Naruto looked at the _teenagers_, he was shocked at how they could've managed to get into the village without him knowing. Furthermore, as he began to look over the reports, he was even more shocked.

Looking at the first few points on a few of the reports, he was taken aback at the amount of data that had been gathered on them. But it wasn't even the group that intrigued him as much anymore, it was what they were claiming… The things they had been saying reminded him of an experience in his past that felt almost like a dream.

* * *

Forest green hair knotted and tangled from a strange night fell in the way of darting, suspicious onyx eyes. Midori's eyes surveyed everything around her as she waited for someone to come in. The room felt...depressing. There was no other light other than the small, dangling bulb above her that would temporarily go out every other minute, leaving her in complete darkness for about ten seconds every time. The walls were dull in both texture and colour, any possible paint that was there before being long peeled away.

When she and the others had been brought into the building they were being questioned in, there were clearly better rooms available. Rooms with windows letting in natural light, and at least some sort of _life_. But instead, they had been forced into an elevator, having to split up into three different groups as to not overfill it. Then they rode down for what felt like five minutes when they finally arrived in the most dreary place imaginable. A small office sat in the corner of the main area, looking more like a dirty glass box than an actual office, accompanied by a few stone "benches" in the main area that looked like hell to sit on. Finally, the small, cramped door that led to the room she currently sat in.

'_I hope Menma-sensei is okay…'_ Midori tried to wonder how everyone else was doing with this situation. They had been meeting in the academy, discussing what was to be done about the tensions that were raising between the villages, when all of a sudden everything seemed to go dark for her. When she woke up, she and the others were restrained and being surveyed by what appeared to be ANBU members, yet she noted how their masks seemed to be very bland compared to others she'd seen.

Now, two of the ANBU stood in the corners of the room, much to the discomfort of the tall girl. Just as she started to place her head down on the table, the door opened, letting in a new source of light. Looking up, she caught a glimpse of...Menma? Had it been him? Was he here? Her mind began to race as she thought of what he might've been doing to get them out of the wretched place. He definitely looked more tired than normal, and had a few other slight differences. The whisker markings on his face seemed different, and his hair was shorter. It had been a little bit since she'd seen him, since he was busy helping Lord Seventh with the preparations in case a war happened. Any time he was home, she was gone, and when she was home, he was gone.

Still though, she knew that when things had finally started to settle down, the two would be able to start seeing each other and training with each other again, like they used to. She never enjoyed going on missions with other leaders as much as with Menma, but that was also largely due to how much of a brother he was to her.

As she returned her attention to "Menma", she noticed that her vision was blocked by a rather intimidating man. A face more decorated with scar tissue than skin, and a scowl that spelled trouble.

"I am Morino Ibiki, I will be asking you a series of questions, you _**will**_ answer them." Slamming the clipboard in his hands down to the table, he sat down rather slowly. "First, why are you bearing the Konohagakure hitai-ate, yet we have no record of you? Why are you here?"

'_Did Menma-sensei not tell him that I can't speak?' _Midori stared blankly at the man, making no motion yet.

Taking a deep breath, Ibiki continued. "If you are planning a way to get out of here, I would stop now. For some reason, your chakra is disturbed and you are incapable of forming jutsus. Even if you did manage to find some way to form them, you would be detained in an instant." Even as he said this, the girl in front of him looked as if she had absolutely nothing to say. "If that's how you want to start this off, then we will go even simpler. What is your name?"

Rolling her eyes at the man's inability to tell that she physically couldn't talk, she began to sign her name to him. '_Let's hope he can at least understand this.'_

Ibiki had seen a lot of different hand seals, but the speed at which this girl was forming whatever she was doing was a new level. Swiftly standing up, he slammed his hands down on the reflective steel table. "I said it's pointless! You are going to answer our questions, one way or another!"

As he began to form the hand seals to his summoning jutsu, a cry came from outside of the room.

"**She's mute, you vapid shit!"**

For only a second, a blush began to come on Ibiki's face out of embarrassment. Clearing his throat, he turned to one of the ANBU in the corner of the room. "Can you get a pen and paper for her?"

As they left, Ibiki turned back to a smugly grinning Midori.

* * *

As Midori was brought back into the main room and sat back down, Ibiki quickly looked for the next person he would choose. Scanning the crowd of fourteen remaining kids, he pointed to one with fluffy pastel blue hair that flowed to his mid-back. "You, come with me."

The boy scoffed as he slowly stood up. "Whatever you say, let's get this over with."

Ibiki quickly recognized the voice as the one who had called him a "vapid shit." Entering the interrogation room quietly, for some reason, there was a series of giggles and laughter that erupted in the main room. There were attempts among themselves to hush their cacophony of chatter, but it ended up continuing until it finally died off on its own.

"First off, we will begin with something simple. What is your name?" Ibiki placed the files he was given on the table in front of him as the boy was restrained to the chair he was in by an ANBU member, who was rather generous on the chains that seemed to cover every inch of him.

A prideful glare quickly looked over Ibiki. "You don't know who I am? I figured I'd made quite the name for myself in Konoha."

"I have never seen or heard of you in my life. Name, now." Ibiki's words cut right through the boy's seemingly rehearsed monologue that was beginning.

Suddenly the pride in the boy's voice and eyes gave way to disappointment, seemingly in himself. "I am Kosshi Biteki. My mother, Mato, runs a bonsai shop. My father, Futsuu, is a mochi salesman. We aren't a clan, they both come from civilian parents."

Looking down at the table, Biteki refused to meet Ibiki's gaze for a moment. '_Is this what an actual civilian feels like..? I can't feel any of chakra…'_

'_This kid didn't hold back, huh?'_ Ibiki nodded slowly, taking down small notes. "Alright. Then tell me, Biteki, how we were able to detect three different Kekkei Genkai within your chakra signatures? Are you an experiment of Orochimaru's?"

Biteki snorted as he looked up at the standing man, his pride seemingly back in place. "I'm all natural. My abilities come from my ancestors, I've never been experimented on." Rolling his eyes as his head shook, Biteki continued. "I don't understand why we are even being interrogated. We were meeting in the academy to discuss the war that is building up."

"The Fourth Shinobi World War ended years ago. That is not what we are talking about though, we are talking about you." Ibiki continued, refusing to let the topic change. "Your Genkai are all from extremely different places. You expect me to believe your ancestor's abilities just happened to culminate in you?"

Biteki let out a slow sigh. "First of all, you must be living in denial to not see that the war is building. Second, if you don't believe me, why not get someone to actually force the information out of me?" Looking around, he let out a slight _hm_. "Speaking of, why isn't the Akatsuki in here? They've been manning the interrogation recently, haven't they? Even if we are from Konoha, they should be interrogating us."

"The Akatsuki were war criminals! They committed heinous crimes, and are all dead!" Ibiki began to yell at Biteki, who seemed entirely unphased.

Slowly shaking his head, Biteki began to chuckle. "What the hell are you talking about? Whatever caused those scars on you must've messed with your brain. Were they mercenaries for some time? Yes. But the Akatsuki has become, arguably, one of the most valuable assets in Konoha. At least," he thought to the members that had died in recent years. "They were."

"The Akatsuki were the cause of the Fourth Shinobi World War, they did nothing to help Konoha, they only sought to destroy it!" Ibiki's lips sneered slowly. "Are you trying to slowly say that you are part of the Akatsuki?"

Shaking his head, Biteki continued. "You like jumping to conclusions, don't you? I wouldn't be part of the Akatsuki if I could, which no one can anymore, considering they don't accept any new members. Besides, their whole black cloak deal doesn't look good on me. I'd tear through it too easily and have to get a new one way too often."

Ibiki clenched his teeth as the tension in the room only raised. "You can understand why you are such a suspicious individual, can't you?"

"Considering I have lived here my entire life, and almost everyone knows me, no, I don't see why I am. Shouldn't Menma have told you about me, at least?" Biteki fired back at the steadily frustrated man.

Balling his hand into a fist, Ibiki took deep breaths to calm himself. "Both you and that girl have talked about Menma, there is no Menma here! That is Naruto Uzumaki, no one in Konoha is named Menma!"

"Naruto? Who the hell would name their child 'Naruto'?" Biteki couldn't stop the laugh that escaped his mouth. "At least Menma seems like an actual name, Naruto is just the name of some ramen topping." If he wasn't chained up completely, Biteki would've clutched his chest as he laughed.

Finally fed up with the tanned boy in front of him, Ibiki began to speak without taking his eyes off of Biteki. "Get a Yamanaka in here to search his mind."

* * *

Naruto watched as Biteki was brought out, and noted that he seemed out of it. He had been told about a Yamanaka being called in to search his mind, so he could only imagine that the boy was probably unable to function for a little bit. As a few more kids were called in and then brought back out, he could only wonder what they were going through with Ibiki's interrogation process.

After about half of the kids had been called in, with a few being brought back in a second time for additional questions, two hours had passed at the least. And just as he was looking over the newest report of what one of the strange kids had said, a slow, smooth voice came from behind him. "Yo, Naruto."

Smiling lightly to himself, Naruto turned around to face his childhood friend.

"Shikamaru," With eyes that couldn't possibly detail the confusion in his mind, Naruto kept his smile steady. "It's good to have you."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Shikamaru slowly nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry for being late, Temari was being troublesome." Noticing the look in the young man's features, he gave his own light smile. "Women are weird, aren't they, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't so much give an answer, only giving a slight hum as he turned back to the reports and files. "I need your help. If anyone can help me with this, it's going to be you."

He held out a stack of papers to the spiky-haired man, who took it hesitantly.

"Man, what a drag…" Flipping over the opening page, Shikamaru began to skim through the dialogue that had been recorded.

Naruto looked up as the sound of Ibiki calling in another person to question. As soon as he saw who was called in, he beckoned for Shikamaru to come look as well.

Wavy crimson hair swayed as the tall boy stood up. Stretching for a moment, he stared directly at the glass box that the two men stood in, ringed purple eyes piercing their soul.

"Are those…" Shikamaru spoke softly.

"Rinnegan." Naruto cut him off, nodding slowly. "I've sent a messenger falcon to Sasuke, he needs to be here. I also sent a letter to Orochimaru to see if they have anything to do with this."

Humming lightly to himself, Shikamaru turned his head back to the reports in front of him. Everything the kids had said seemed to match up with each other. The seventh Hokage, as they knew it, was Sakura Haruno. Her advisor was Menma Namikaze. '_Great, I'm out of a job even to them.'_

Softly chuckling as he shook his head, he continued noticing a number of connections between what they said. "Naruto?"

"Hm?" Naruto didn't look away from the files he was reading.

"Didn't you tell us a couple of years back about some experience you had where you went to a world that was parallel to ours?"

Shikamaru looked up to meet Naruto, who finally looked away from his files.

Suddenly, the realization of what they had been saying hit Naruto like a brick. But he couldn't stop himself from beginning to think into it. Wasn't that a Genjutsu? Wasn't it all fake? These kids weren't illusions, there's no way. Had they been part of an incredibly convoluted lie?

As Shikamaru began to attempt to talk to Naruto, it seemed talks had begun in the interrogation room.

* * *

"You know, the defences around this room are really poor. Sensor types could easily see anything going on in here." The crimson haired boy talked calmly, looking around slowly.

Ibiki gave a slight chuckle, seeming to have taken on a much more passive approach after the kids he'd interviewed. These kids didn't respond to standard intimidation, they were each fairly special and were giving different kinds of information. "I suppose they could. From what your peers say, there's a lot of things about here that doesn't seem right. Tell me, what have you noticed, Zennou?"

"It's not our world." Zennou spoke quickly, a bored look meeting Ibiki's shocked expression. "I'm no genius, but even I could figure that out."

Ibiki cleared his throat before sighing. "And why do you say that?"

"In my world, as you have already been told many times, we don't have someone named Uzumaki Naruto. He is replaced by Namikaze Menma." Zennou started, waiting for any interruptions before continuing. "When we were growing up, we learned about an event that happened in the past. Menma had been possessed by a terrifying curse, and destroyed a great deal of the village."

Ibiki nodded slowly. "So how does that to bring you to your conclusion."

"Menma is the Seventh Hokage's advisor in our world. However, he is still a Jounin, you do have those here, correct? So, as a Jounin, he was still sent on missions occasionally. He and I were once put on a mission together, and he told me about the event. He told me about a man named 'Naruto' who had saved him from the curse. He said that he was from a world parallel to our own. So, sure enough." He took a breath to take a sip of water, which Ibiki had begun providing the kids after they seemed to be getting dehydrated. "Once Biteki began talking about someone named 'Naruto', I began to piece everything together." Zennou shrugged as he continued looking around.

Ibiki smiled at the boy. Despite being arguably the most dangerous of the entire group, he had seemed to cooperate the most. "Then maybe you've figured out how you ended up in this world?"

"Ah, I'm still at a loss for that. Like I said, I'm not a genius. I just used what I'd been told." Zennou balled and opened his fist a few times. "But none of our chakra is working. Otherwise Biteki would've broken free of this place long ago."

Ibiki's glare grew sharper as he stared down the purple eyed boy. "Is that so? I can assure you, none of you could escape even with your cha-"

"You're all stagnant. Everyone's chakra in this room is dull and grown dormant and become underutilized." Zennou stopped him, glaring daggers back at him. "I don't know how long things have been this way, but the fact of the matter is, your chakra is lacking and your bodies are all no longer used to battle. We, on the other hand, have kept a life of combat and battle. Especially now, we have a war on the way."

Ibiki took in a sharp breath. "You're awfully confident in your abilities."

"I'm confident in _our_ abilities. I've grown up alongside these people. I know that they can do a lot. But, all of these glares and needless tension is for nothing. We can't use our chakra, and that's that. Are the people from this world going to help us get back to ours? Who knows what could go wrong, or who else was brought over at the same time as us?" Zennou placed his hands gently on the table, looking to the scarred man in front of him for answers.

Clicking his tongue, Ibiki began to turn around to one of the ANBU. "Bring in th-"

"They're telling the truth." Without warning, Naruto burst through the door. "Everything about Menma, the war, it's all true."

Ibiki questioningly looked to the Seventh Hokage. "Lord Seventh, are you sure you're not being too optimistic and trusting?"

"I know for a fact that they are telling the truth." As he said this, Naruto locked eyes with Zennou.

"So you've figured it out too, Naruto?" Zennou's eyebrows raised as he looked at the yellow-haired man. Quickly catching his mistake, he corrected himself. "Sorry, 'Lord Seventh'."

Nodding slowly, Naruto didn't give an actual answer to the boy. Turning back to Ibiki, he started. "Find Yamato and have him create a containment facility. I want them placed there with ANBU guards always on patrol, and I want constant progress updates."

Nodding slowly, Ibiki stood up, giving one last glance to the olive skinned boy sitting down before setting out to find Yamato. As he left, Naruto turned and looked over the fifteen kids. He could only imagine how much trouble was going to come from this situation.

* * *

**Hey everyone! So what you see here is a fun little Naruto SYOC that I am going to have a lot of fun with! As you can tell from the dialogue, the kids that you'll be sending in will be from the Alternate World! This world is very similar to the Road To Ninja Movie's Genjutsu World, however, there are some stark differences from it at the same time. In this world, however, the Fourth Shinobi World War is building and hasn't happened yet in their world. Characters such as Menma, Sakura, Sasuke, etc. are well into their adulthood, being in their early thirties. Similarly, in the Canon World, which is where the cast currently is, the events of Boruto and such have not yet happened, and Naruto and co. are also in their early thirties. **

**This story will also have a prequel going on at the same time(Considering if I waited until the very end of the story to do a prequel, only the hardcore readers would want to read it at that point.), and this prequel will essentially show the kids getting to their power levels they are at now. Both the prequel and this story will most likely have fairly dark overall themes and scenes at times, considering the Alt world has kept an overall time of war and battle and never really settled into a peace era or a slow era. Political tension is a lot more prevalent than Canon, and as such, invasions and heavy attacks are very common in the Alt World. **

**There are also a good number of differences from Canon that cause a number of extreme changes in the Alternate world compared to the Canon World, aside from the previous mentioned ones. If you have any questions on any specific differences, feel free to PM me and ask!**

**Without further ado, I hope you all enjoyed the prologue, and I look forward to your characters! The form is on my profile, and the deadline is March 5th!**


	2. P2- An Unfortunate Culling

Pushing his crimson coloured hitai-ate up like a headband, Meisai brushed any stray salmon coloured hairs away from his eyes so he could look over the letter he'd just been delivered a minute ago. The delivery hawk had already flown off after the young man had given it a treat for its hard work. With a smile across his sunkissed skin, he sat down at the table of his run-down house.

It had been a long time since he had guests of any sorts, so cleaning up was still on his to-do list. However, he had to admit that it had partially been bugging him. When the Hokage used to visit so often, Meisai kept the apartment spotless. He couldn't do anything less than impress. But now? He had fallen into a rut. Nobody was around, and he might not have been helping himself. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been outside.

Sighing to himself, he shook his head to clear his thoughts of solitude. Besides, he was never alone. That was a proven fact.

Nonetheless, he took a quick sip of an impossibly teal coloured drink, and began to tear open the seal on the letter as to see what was being requested of him. The contents, however, were surprising to say the least. He would've never expected that _he_ would get chosen to lead a team of anyone. He was nineteen, could he possibly classify for something like that? Sure, he was a jounin, and sure, he was…

No, no, he had been working on better himself with this. No overthinking it. Lord Seventh needed this of him, and it was the least he could do for him. Drinking the entirety of his beverage in an instant, Meisai's mulberry eyes snapped open at the burst of energy that went through him. "Alright, let's start today off right!" Lightly slapping his face, Meisai jumped up and down and allowed his limbs to flop freely. The meeting ordered in the letter would be in about two hours, so he had time to clean up, just in case. Forming a seal, two clones quickly formed beside him.

Looking to the clone on his left, he pointed to his bedroom. "Go clean up in there." Turning to the clone on his right, he pointed to the sink. "Do the dishes, we can't have people knowing we live like this!" As the two went to perform their needed tasks, Meisai began to clean up in the main room. Clothes strewn about on the floor were tossed in a basket, and any plates he came upon were quickly passed to the clone manning the dishes. Looking for any scraps he might've forgotten about, he found a bowl with a perfectly untouched serving of ramen.

"Anyone remember how long ago this was..?" Holding up the bowl, the two clones looked at it with the same curious look he had on his face. "Well, if only there was _someone_ else who could give me an answer." Rolling his eyes, his fingers absentmindedly grazed his back. "I guess it is still early for everyone."

Placing the bowl of mystery ramen in the fridge, Meisai thought of it as a fun surprise for later. On one hand, it could be a tasty meal to where he didn't have to spend more money. On the other? He could get sick.

'_And Lord Seventh really wants me to be the leader of a squad?'_ The strangely tall man couldn't help but laugh to himself. Even if it was a strange idea, it could be an interesting one in the end. Stripping down, he tossed his pajamas into a clothes basket as he entrusted the rest of the cleaning to his shadow clones.

Quick to turn on the water in his shower, he still stood outside of it for a few minutes, waiting until a great deal of steam had accumulated in the small bathroom and the water had easily been scalding. Climbing in, the heat barely seemed to effect him. As he began to clean himself up, he had to review his plans aloud.

"Leave here, go to the Hokage's office, and get information on my team." Taking a second to think, he hummed momentarily. "I wonder what kind of test I should give them? Not something too harsh, that's for sure. I wish he'd told me what kind of kids they were…"

Slowly, but surely, his plans devolved into rehearsals of different kinds of conversations he could have when he met Lord Seventh later, and then steadily progressed into dreams of the future, cheering on one of his kids. However, as the scalding water drastically changed to become frigid, he realized he had been in far too long.

Hopping out, he wrapped himself in his towel and moved to his bedroom, which surprisingly, had been cleaned quite well. Looking through his closet, he chose his typical outfit he went on most missions in. It was simple, but it was enough. Mesh shirt with a vibrant green shirt over it, grey pants, standard sandals, and a teal kimono. It had been what carried him through his childhood, albeit with some minor modifications over time.

Donning his outfit, he looked over himself in the mirror with a wide smile on his face. '_It's good to be getting back into the swing of things…'_ Letting out a sigh of relief, Meisai moved to the door of his apartment. Taking a long look at the place, he was glad to see it clean again after so long. As his door clicked to a close behind him, a smile formed on Meisai's face, and it wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

* * *

"No, no, no no no no!" A voice as smooth as silk quickly grew distressed as clothes were thrown aside in a panic. An androgynous individual quickly emerged from the mountainous pile, holding different jackets in either hand. "None of these work!" Muko tossed the green flak jacket in their left hand into the wall nearby, breaking the wood and sending splinters flying. "I can't meet the Hokage today wearing green on grey!"

Looking at the partially crumpled letter that had been delivered on the floor, they began to chew the inside of their cheek. '_The Hokage had asked me to get there before the others...is there something he needs from me specifically?' _Groaning, Muko threw their hands to the ground. "Why do decisions have to be so difficult?!"

As they rummaged through the pile, they finally came upon their black flak jacket. Quickly tossing it around their lithe frame, Muko left the house in a blur, heading for the office of the Hokage.

Arriving at the door to the office, Muko lightly knocked. Waiting for a few moments, there was finally an answer. "Come in." Entering quietly, Muko bowed upon entrance before looking up to see Shikamaru and Naruto.

"You requested I come before the others, Lord Hokage?" Muko's smooth voice carried softly to the ears of the two adults.

Naruto remembered when they had been found, not long after the war had ended. They had seemed fairly normal, but as they had grown up in Konoha, Naruto had quickly realized how wrong that was. Their ability...it was all too similar to the abilities noted in the data that Sasuke had gathered. But they had proved themselves to be faithful to the village on far too many occasions.

"Muko, we have something that we need from you." Naruto spoke clearly as he nodded to Shikamaru. Pulling out a stack of papers, Shikamaru set them in front of Muko, who had now moved to the front of the desk that Naruto sat at.

Shikamaru nodded slowly as Muko picked them up. "About a week ago, a group of kids were found with Konoha hitai-ates. We had no record of them anywhere." Gesturing to the papers, he continued. "Ibiki interrogated them and we came to realize something."

Muko's round eyebrows raised ever so slightly. "What did you find out?"

"They aren't from our universe." Naruto and Shikamaru spoke in decisive unison. Taking a deep breath, Shikamaru continued. "They are from a universe parallel to ours, and are all from an alternate Konoha. Things seem to be fairly different, but there are also quite a few similarities."

Muko interjected. "Where are you keeping them?"

"I had Yamato create a remote containment facility." Naruto answered this time. "They have ANBU guards on patrol, but their chakra doesn't seem to be coming back any time soon. It was disrupted when they came to this world, it seems."

Muko hummed lightly. "So what did you need from me then?" They continued to read over the interrogation reports of the children, as well as their files.

"Well, to put it simply, we wanted to know what your insight on this may be?" Naruto began to lean back in his chair as he waited for an answer.

'_What my insight may be?' _Muko was...confused to say the least. "Why would you ask me of all people?"

"You have always been rather good with kids." Naruto spoke quickly, remembering their genin years being filled with them taking on plenty of jobs at orphanages and any other jobs that really dealt with kids. As a chuunin, they took on even more responsibilities and jumped on every opportunity they had been given to help coach a group of genin. "So, I felt that you would have some kind of idea to what we should do."

"Well," Sucking in air, their cheeks puffed as they comically blew it out. "They seem to be scared kids. From what these reports are saying, they were getting ready to go to war, and then being transported to an entirely new universe doesn't help much either. I imagine that isolating them with only each other to really keep them company doesn't help much either."

Shikamaru's eyebrows raised. "What do you suggest we do about that?"

"I could work as a counselor for them in the meantime before you know exactly what is going to be done with them. I could go every other day, at least, and attempt to talk to them? See if they will open up to me?" Muko shrugged. "It's worth a shot if you ask me. As I said, they are probably just as scared and confused with this situation as we are."

"And you would be okay with doing this? There's nothing you're worried about?" Naruto gave a questioning glance. However, he already knew what the answer would be. Muko had always been rather...daring, to put it lightly. He seemed to throw caution to the wind when making most decisions. Always adjusting and changing depending on what happened, never having a real set plan. There were a few things, however, that he had learned that the jounin was rather adamant on having just right.

"I promise you, Lord Hokage, I am completely fine with doing this. I will take pride in it, and enjoy the time I spend with them." Muko bowed in front of Naruto, before slowly raising. "Please, tell me more before the others arrive. I would love to be as informed as possible for the task at hand, especially if I will be mentoring a group of them." Pausing, they questioned the yellow-haired man. "Why are they getting mentors, anyways?"

Part of him wanted to talk about how he felt bad for the kids. They were about to go through possibly one of the most gruelling wars their world may ever see. He wanted them to be prepared, ready to protect their village, as well as the Shinobi World. However, that wouldn't make as much sense to everyone. So instead, Naruto settled on a different answer. "Well…"

* * *

The soothing scent of coffee wafted through the small home as steaming water was added directly to the grounds. Stepping away, the lean male quickly flipped the eggs that were beginning to pop on the stove. "Why couldn't I have a third arm?!" Exasperatedly, Nibui quickly shifted the eggs from the pan to the two plates beside the sink.

Using a clone would've made things incredibly easy, however, it wouldn't feel anywhere near as personal in such a case. Turning back to the stove, Nibui grabbed the crackling bacon and sausages from the pan and began to evenly divide it up between the plates. '_It looks like he isn't going to be up just yet.' _Stifling a laugh at the risk of waking up his sleeping guest, Nibui took his plate and mug of coffee to the small island in the middle of the kitchen as the steam from the freshly soaked pan began to waft through the window.

Shovelling the eggs into his mouth like there was no tomorrow, Nibui quickly found himself quickly trying to cool it off with his rapid breaths. Clenching his mouth shut, he muffled his coughs as the eggs then lodged themselves in his throat. The entire process could've easily been prevented, and he had known this as he had repeated this process for years.

That was simply the kind of guy Nibui was at heart. He settled into a process for something, and he tended to become mundane in that process, never truly stepping outside of it. He had been called many things over time. Boring. Ordinary. Standard. And for the most part, the people who had called him that were right.

Sure, he hadn't been born into a clan. He didn't have any bloodlines, any hiden techniques. He was from a civilian family, so at least he had been unique among his own family in that aspect. However, in the shinobi world? He faded into the background.

But, nonetheless, he had come to accept this and was at peace with it. Everyone had to have descended from civilians at some point, that was the matter of the world. Anyone who denied that was simply some form of clan elitist...or one of the four clans that descended from the Otsutsuki.

Finishing the few pieces of sausage and bacon that remained on his plate, Nibui gently set the fork down. While a lot of the sound he was preventing was to make sure he didn't wake his guest, they were also for him. He had done a fair amount of drinking the night before, and because of that, a migraine began to throb behind his eyes. He would've been asleep longer, if not for the delivery hawk that had began to loudly hit the window after it had been waiting for who knows how long.

'_Hold on a minute…'_ Looking at the stamp on the letters, he quickly recognized it as the Hokage's seal. '_Shit! This could be important, why did I hold off on it!?' _Practically tearing off the envelope, Nibui flipped open the neatly folded paper inside.

"Han, get up! We're going to be late!" Realizing how close they were cutting the time, Nibui slammed open the door that connected to the kitchen, his deep green eyes growing frantic as he tossed open the closet doors, searching for his outfit he typically wore. Finding it, he pulled it from the hangar and moved to leave, slapping the occupied bed loudly three times on his way.

A groggy voice emerged from underneath the blankets as he was almost out of the room. "What? Why?" Slurring his words lightly, the man named Han tossed aside the blankets as he revealed his muscular frame. Sweat was forming on his chest, and the pupil in his right eye was almost invisible due to the pounding in his head. "We don't have any missions scheduled, do we?"

Nibui turned, throwing a spare outfit he had for Han at him. "Worse! We have a meeting with the Hokage, we can't be late!" Han had been staying over so much recently that Nibui had just opted to keep a spare change of his outfit at his house. The reasons weren't always the same, sometimes they were drinking together, other times they had been exhausted from a mission, the reasons were definitely varied.

But the two had been impossibly close, so it wasn't much of a problem to either one of them. Although, they did have to share a bed due to the limited space. As he thought about it, a blush lightly formed across his face. "Come on, hurry up!" Pushing his foot through one of his sandals, he had to prop himself against a wall to stop himself from falling.

"You don't need to rush so much. Haven't you heard of being fashionably late?" The sharp voice came from behind him, merciless and laced with venom. Turning around, Nibui was greeted with the slightly taller man.

"This is a meeting with the Hokage, you don't arrive late to it!" Despite his slight frustration with him, it quickly devolved. Nibui could rarely stay mad at Han. Pulling a tie from his wrist, the raven haired man pulled back Han's curly brown locks, pulling them into a bun. "Would it kill you to fix up your looks some?" Looking into the dual eyes of the man, one a light hazel while the other was a featureless white. His dark skin only made his eyes even more prominent.

Scoffing, Han lightly pushed away Nibui's hands, being especially careful on his tightly bandaged left hand. "Why should I fix them when I know for a fact that you'll fix them better than I could?" Leaning closer for a moment, the tension grew thick.

Clearing his throat, Nibui's face grew hot as he turned around. "Right, right, well! How about we head on to the central office? I bet the others are already there, they probably aren't as late as us." His words gradually changed to rapid, incoherent mumbling as his eyes darted from side to side, his ears losing their crimson colouring.

Smirking to himself, Han nodded. The two promptly left the house, and began their rather quick journey. "You know, you really shouldn't have been worrying in the first place. In case you forgot, we don't exactly walk around on the streets, we don't have to worry about road traffic." Han chimed to Nibui, but the man seemed to be too absorbed in worry to listen.

As the two arrived, they quickly noticed Meisai and Muko chatting with each other, as well as occasionally commenting to Shikamaru and Naruto. "Lord Hokage, we are here!" Slamming his hands to his sides rather loudly, Nibui bowed in a swift movement before standing upright. Han, on the other hand, bowed at a much more leisurely pace.

"Come on in, Nibui, Han." Giving a wide smile, Naruto beckoned the two in from the doorway.

"It's an honor that you would consider us all to be the mentor to a squad!" Nibui continued to speak enthusiastically. So far, as a jounin, he had performed fairly standard tasks. Simple missions, never the leader. So the thought of being the leader of a squad excited him, quite obviously so.

Han remained fairly stoic, however, he turned to talk to the others that had been in the room already. Turning to Muko, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I haven't seen you in a while, Alienspawn." Eyeing Meisai, he hummed lightly. "Or you, Meisai."

"Why do you give those names to everyone but Nibui and Meisai?" Muko's flushed pale face contorted with annoyance. "It's rude to point out someone's insecurities…"

Han tutted. "I think it's actually pretty helpful. If it's something you can improve your view of yourself on, then I call it out. Every little thing that burns you inside, I'll call it out until you no longer feel any way about it. That way, you can improve on personal inhibitors." Looking at the bouncing, smiling Meisai, he couldn't help but shiver. "That one radiates too much positivity...I can't find anything wrong with him. As for Nibui…." Clearing his throat, he turned his attention to Shikamaru.

"Is everyone here? Are we going to start soon?" Han looked around at the other three. Nibui, Meisai, Muko, and him. Four teams. If they were leading genin, he was curious as to the kinds he would be taking care of. He hoped he wouldn't crush their spirits, but he would train them just as he had been trained, knowing it would make them better.

Shikamaru shook his head slowly. "No, we're waiting for Kuroka. She seems like she will be late." Mumbling a comment to himself, he sighed slowly.

"We've got Spot here too?" Humming softly, Han looked back to Nibui who had been excitedly chatting with Naruto. "This is definitely going to be an interesting meeting then..."

* * *

The screaming of the persistent alarm clock broke through the azure-haired woman's dreams who slept among a mass of clothes and blankets. Slamming her hand down on the source of her morning torment, Kuroka slowly rose from her cocoon, her hair a matted mess and her eyes bloodshot.

She tried to speak, however, she quickly found that her throat was drier than the deserts surounding Sunagakure. Tossing her bedding off of her, she began to stumble to her kitchen. Her bare legs stiffened at the cool air inside the home as all of the hair on her stood on end. Hearing the satisfying click of her refrigerator opening, she instinctually shielded her eyes as she threw the door open. Reaching in for the pitcher of water, she began to drink directly from it, feeling moisture within her throat once again.

"Shit...how late is it?" Inside the house was an eternal night, the combination of an absence of any lights turned on and all of the blinds being closed. Quickly opening the curtain to the large sliding door at the back of the house, she recoiled as blinding sunlight hit her. Stifling what felt like a hiss rising in her throat, her ultramarine eyes caught hold of a letter on the ground, along with cracked glass. '_I must've slept through a delivery…'_ Picking up the letter, she hastily removed the seal as she opened it. Picking up the pitcher of water again, she began to drink while reading the letter

'_You have been selected to blah blah blah...team mumbo jumbo...signed...The Hokage?!'_ Spitting out the water in her mouth on the letter, she quickly rushed to fix her mistake. Patting the paper with her shirt that reached to her thighs, she actually read through the details. "I slept too late, I'm late for it!" Throwing off her shirt, she ran to her room to grab clothes. As she rushed to put on her mission outfit, she attempted to multitask by brushing her teeth and hair.

However, she quickly realized the mistake in this as she began to brush through her hair with her wet toothbrush and scraped her tongue with her hair brush. Sticking her tongue out in disgust, she finished getting her clothes on before completing the two aforementioned tasks without mistake this time around.

Managing to throw together a half-assed braid, she figured it was good enough. "If the meeting is over quickly, then I can get back and reset my sleep schedule."

Grabbing her tachi from her room, she positioned it behind her as she always had before, making sure that it wouldn't slide from place. Nodding to herself, she quickly exited her house, attempting to get to the office of the Hokage as fast as possible.

Arriving in the door of the office, Kuroka slammed it open and loudly announced her presence. "I apologize for being late, Lord Hokage!"

"It's been an hour since the time requested on your letter, what could've been holding you up?" Shikamaru quickly responded, his brown eyes boring into her soul.

Kuroka felt a rock form in her throat as she struggled for the words. "I….I overslept."

Shikamaru's eyes were still sharp for a moment, before finally softening as he let out a sigh. "What a drag…"

Naruto waited until the woman had sat down beside Nibui to start what he had to say. "Right. I guess you're all wondering why I asked you all to meet with me today?"

"Well, for the teams, right?" Kuroka stated the obvious, still waking up as her mind was still foggy.

"Yes, but, there's further reason for choosing you all to be the leaders of these teams." Taking a deep breath, he picked up the files of the shinobi they had found a week earlier. "Last week, we discovered a group of about fifteen shinobi in the village. They all had signs of allegience to Konoha, but we had no record of them."

"Were they spies? Sleeper agents?" Han was the first to respond, years of experience in situations such as these instantly coming to mind.

Shikamaru shook his head. "They were loyal to Konoha...just not our Konoha."

"When I was growing up, Sakura and I were sent to another world that was just like ours, but there were a bunch of differences from here." Allowing his teenage side to shine through, Naruto began to lose the formal speech and allow a smile to form on his face as he remembered the time he had spent in the alternate world. "At the time, I thought it was only a genjutsu placed on us. But these kids...It seems that it wasn't one at all. It looks like there truly is another universe parallel to our own.."

The five jounin looked among each other, waiting for what this meant. However, Meisai was quick to prompt the discussion further. "So...I take it we won't be leading a standard squad of genin?"

Taking over the conversation as Naruto gestured to him, Shikamaru began to open up files and hand papers out. "No, you will not. These shinobi seem to all be chuunin at the least, with a select few being jounin. During their interrogation, we sent falcons to Sasuke and Orochimaru. Sasuke sent us a letter back on a number of temporal chakra anomalies that had appeared."

"These anomalies seem to be the same as the anomaly that was present here, in the academy and in the office, which seems to have switched with the academy from the alternate world." Shikamaru motioned to the various pictures of Sakura and Sasuke around the room. "We also have a number of reports from-" As he was about to say Itachi, he caught himself. He was already dropping tons of information on the heads of these jounin, he couldn't lay it on too strong. "Various ANBU agents in the alternate world that detail strange events happening at other regions and villages. Your jobs will be to take a standard squad of these kids to the anomalies and see if there are any other shinobi who were brought over to this world from theirs, as well as investigate the other villages to see if the strange happenings in their world lines up with ours."

"Most importantly though, is also finding a way for them to get home." Naruto cut in on the briefing. "Who knows what trouble could come from them being out of their own universe."

As the five soon-to-be squad leaders sat in silence, Muko mostly faking theirs as to not disturb the others, Naruto nodded slowly. "We will continue to have meetings for the next month on your assigned locations and missions. Then...you'll be off with your squad."

Shikamaru cleared his throat as he then began to pass out the files of the kids to their respective squad leaders. "Any questions?"

* * *

**Stats- **

**Kaimen Meisai (19 years old)**

**Rank: Jounin**

**Team Meisai/Team 4**

**Danger: F**

**Skill: S**

**Mystery:S**

**Charisma:A**

**Kimono:A+**

**\- Meisai grew up in a rather neglectful household in Kirigakure, and grew up rather poor. Having only been four at the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kirigakure was facing rather rough times as he was growing up. Despite this, because of various circumstances, he eventually settled into Konohagakure where he has made quite the life for himself, and is happier than he has ever been!**

**XXXXX**

**Muko (21 years old)**

**Rank: Jounin**

**Team Muko/Team 5**

**Bukijutsu: S+**

**Speed: A+**

**Origins: F**

**Relatability: D**

**Attempts to cling to Youth: A**

**\- Muko has a very foggy past that not many can seem to pinpoint, however, there are a few that have learned about where he is descended from. It's not known where exactly he was as a kid, however, he seems to have randomly popped up in Konoha not long after the Fourth Shinobi World War, and with seemingly no where else to stay, he was allowed to live in Konoha. **

**XXXXX**

**Hito Nibui (27 years old)**

**Rank: Jounin**

**Team Nibui/Team 6**

**Intelligence:A**

**Genjutsu:A**

**Interesting Qualities:F**

**Charisma:F**

**Hard Work:A**

**\- Nibui has always been a fairly normal shinobi. He never had outstanding, unique abilities growing up, so he thought that he would only be able to become a chuunin at best. However, he learned that he truly could become more than that if he truly applied himself. The fruit of his years of hard labor culminated in being promoted to a Jounin about two years ago!**

**XXXXX**

**Hyuuga Han (27 years old)**

**Rank: Jounin**

**Team Han/Team 7**

**Taijutsu:S+**

**Vision:S**

**Condescension: A**

**Tension: S+++**

**First Impressions: F**

**\- Having been distantly related to a Hyuuga, he was born with a Byakugan in his right eye! Han grew up rather hated by most kids in his class due to his ways of calling out personal insecurities of theirs, however, the one kid he could never seem to do it to was his closest friend, Nibui. After graduating from the academy, his skills and talents were recognized rather quickly, and he was enlisted into the ANBU. Recently, though, he left the organization, preferring to be in ranks with standard Jounin once again.**

**XXXXX**

**Nasu Kuroka (27 years old)**

**Rank: Jounin**

**Team Kuroka/Team 8**

**Kenjutsu:S++**

**Alcoholism: B**

**Fashion: D**

**Disinterest: A**

**Cleanliness: F**

**\- Having come from Kirigakure to Konohagakure at the age of 12 after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kuroka quickly displayed immense skill in Kenjutsu that Kirigakure was known for. Having lost the entirety of her family, it was amazing to most around that she was functional. Most expected her to be distraught, but instead, she seemed to channel the spirit of her family into improving her skills further and further, managing to integrate into Konoha society quite nicely! **

* * *

**And that was the secondary chapter to the prologue, giving small little insights to the leaders that your characters will be under! I hope you all enjoyed it! As for this little section at the end, from now on, I will be doing small stat blurbs(Which will not all draw from their actual stats, as you can see here. Some will draw from personality and simple things about them) and small notes on significant characters in a chapter! Now, obviously if I slam y'all with ten new characters in a single chapter(which is unlikely, I'm not a fan of hitting readers with too many characters at once) , I'm not going to do ten stat blurbs. At most, I will do five like this chapter! **

**Anyways, I look forward to your submissions, and I can't wait for any reviews y'all may have!**


	3. P3- Confined By Frustration

'_You'd better be on the other side doing this…'_

_Rat, Dragon, Hare, Snake, Dog, Boar..._

* * *

_The child was born silent. No tears were shed, no cries were made. A child untouched by the cruelty of the world yet abused by the cruelty of fate. The efforts made for the boy to begin breathing or for the heart to begin beating were futile. No words were said as the blonde woman held the boy tenderly, cradling him alongside the slowly whimpering baby in her other arm._

_She had remained strong for so long, but she felt the tears welling in her eyes as the boy still hadn't made a sound. The doctors didn't move from their spots, giving their former Hokage a chance to grieve. _

_As the head doctor made a move to retrieve him from the arms of Tsunade, the child finally took in a deep breath of air, and exhaled a soft cry. As the cry began, his eyes slowly opened, revealing a strange sight. _

* * *

The gentle strokes of a pencil on paper were barely heard in the well-lit room, the wall adjacent to him made of glass allowing him to continue drawing the vast forest.

"Zennou! You're always hiding away, why don't you come talk to everyone else?" With a voice as smooth as honey, the crimson haired boy looked up from the sketchbook he had asked Muko for. They were interesting, to say the least. They came in, and were first greeted with...well, whatever boiling pot of confusion and rage the fifteen of them had been experiencing.

It had been about two weeks since then, though, and everyone was beginning to accept them. The mentor had been fairly compliant with requests made by anyone in the group. The sparring room was allowed, and was attached to the original facility. That had been the most extreme of requests, otherwise kids had asked for simple things, like his sketchbook.

As he forgot to answer and began to look away, his sister, Hitode, moved back in front of him, staring directly into his eyes. "You did that thing again~ You started zoning out~"

"Sorry…" Taking a moment to bring himself back to reality and stop himself from zoning out yet again, he gave a quick smile to his sister with dual-coloured hair, one side a crimson not unlike his own and the other a simple blonde like their mother's. "What is everyone else doing?"

Hitode swayed back and forth before sliding down the wall beside her brother, making sure to keep her mulberry cheongsam steady. "Biteki and I are planning to have a bit of a sparring session today. I guess he wants to get himself beat before our chakra is back." Sighing with a solemn smile on her face, she shrugged as her brother let out a small chuckle. He had always been fairly hard to read, that's for sure, but he was much better than when he was younger.

Most people were fairly weird around Zennou, and when he was younger, it was hard to tell if that was because of his abilities or because of how he acted. He seemed aware of everything that was going on around him, and spoke almost...prophetically. Luckily, he had learned how to tune that down. As Zennou cleared his throat, she was reminded of what she was talking about.

"Muko should be coming by soon enough, he'll be meeting with a few people. I know Kudoku wanted to talk with them. A few others might as well. I think they are all getting a little pissed that no one has their chakra back yet." Taking a moment to nudge her brother, she cracked a smile. "You sure you aren't hiding anything from us, Mr. Scary-Eyes?"

Looking back to his art, Zennou attempted to find something within him. He couldn't seem to really feel the connection to the summons of the Animal Path within him. Something surprising to many who were around the young boy was the fact that those summons were quite unusual, and were actually much more large creations of chakra, similar to the tailed beasts. But given that he couldn't make any form of contact with them was enough to let him know that he was still dormant. "I'm still dry."

Dramatically groaning, Hitode pouted while she drummed on her knees. "If you haven't recovered yet, what hope do we have?!" Putting her elbow on his shoulder, she leaned over to look at his sketchbook. "This is really good, Zenny!" As she ran her fingers over the lines, careful not to cause problems in the art, she found a flood of sensations hit her. A delicate music to it, and a pleasant smell.

"Well! I'm off to find Biteki! Come stop by if you want to see me beat him up~" Hitode slowly stood up, with Zennou rushing to steady her and make sure she didn't fall over. He was always a caring little brother, which even if they were twins, she was born first and as such, deemed him the younger sibling. "And do me a favor?"

As Zennou set aside the sketchbook, he stood up himself. Looking at her, he hummed lightly, signifying he was waiting for her to continue.

"Step out of here, please. Talk to at least one person." As he was about to answer, she cut him off. "And not Midori. One, she can't really talk right now without her chakra. Two, she's your best friend, you can't only talk to her and me. Find someone else, please."

Sighing, Zennou nodded. "Okay, I can do that. I'll...see who isn't busy." Surprising him, the shorter girl quickly threw her arms around her brother in a hug. With that, she was off, softly shutting the door behind her.

For a moment, he contemplated sitting back down and going back to his art. However, he had to keep his word to Hitode. So, with a huff, the tall boy left the room as well, on a mission to find someone to talk to.

That wasn't very hard, though. The common room was filled with people socializing. This was probably the first period of down time any of them had in quite a while, and it was refreshing for a lot of them to relax. There were, however, a few outliers. Biteki and Hitode, for example, were two of them. Although, the two had always been sparring partners, pushing each other to their limits.

"Yo, Zennou, over here!" Looking over, he saw one of the members of his team. Zasshu. His mahogany skin and curly platinum-blond hair was unmistakable among the group of them. "You finally came out of hiding, I'm proud of you! I thought I would never see you again!" He was by the kitchen, and immediately began pouring a drink for his friend. "Here, drink up! It's punch, you should like it." As Zennou slowly took the drink in hand, he took a small sip before setting it down and leaning against the same counter as Zasshu.

"I haven't seen everyone so happy together since-" Zennou began, but the sentence was finished by Zasshu laughing.

"Never!" Doubling over in laughter, the boy clutched his stomach. "Hell, even in the academy, none of us were this happy to be together! I mean, sure, there are a few people here who aren't all that happy to be around each other, but overall, everyone seems pretty happy."

And ever so slightly, a smile began to form across Zennou's face. It started small, and began to grow, as did his laughter. It was a genuine laugh that he hadn't felt in so long. He was so focused on keeping everyone safe recently and making sure that nothing unfair was happening to them and trying to keep an eye on things from behind the scenes, he had forgotten to let himself relax. "You know what Shinwa-sensei would say if he saw us like this?"

The two looked at each other for a moment before busting out in laughter as they both answered in sync.

"Nothing! He'd join us!"

The thought of their serpent-like mentor sitting down and instantly dozing off brought nothing but joy to them. He was a diligent worker, and it would be a lie to say that the majority of his life had been working, but they remembered just how much of a lazy side the man had.

"Do you think they are worried about us, Zennou? Or do you think they are too busy with the war?" Zasshu's tone suddenly changed as he began to stare into his reflection in the maroon-shaded drink. "And how are we going to get back? What if we are stuck here forever?"

Zennou took a deep breath, figuring out what to say and what not to, carefully placing his filters in. "They know we are gone, and are definitely doing something about it. After all, the most prominent teams of our generation don't just disappear and go unnoticed." Nudging his teammate, he smiled at the chuckle he gave. "And we're going to get back. I don't know how yet, but there has got to be a way to get us back if there was a way to be brought over in the first place."

Nodding slowly, Zasshu's normal expression returned. "Yeah, once our chakra is back, we'll be out of here in no time!" Putting his hand on Zennou's shoulder, he gave an affirmative nod. "Then Team 14 will be back in action!" Zennou nodded with him, his smile nowhere near as prominent as his energetic friend.

"Speaking of which, let's go find Makoto. I'm sure she's got to be around here somewhere, right?" Zennou asked, and Zasshu shrugged. Taking his hand from the taller boy's shoulders, the two began to walk away.

And as they began their search, a number of black orbs began to form behind Zennou.

* * *

_Tiger, Bird, Monkey, Dragon, Horse, Dog..._

* * *

_The child sat motionless in his crib, lightly tanned skin glinting in the moonlight. No wind blew from the window, the curtains were still, and the two figures in the larger bed didn't dare stir, fearing to wake the baby. _

_This fear was not present in the mysterious man who suddenly appeared in the window, remaining just as silent as it had been before. His bloodshot eyes stared into the cradle from behind the blank white mask, the only feature being the four curved lines representing his loyalty to Kirigakure. _

"_Let's get this over with then." Leather-clad hands gently reached into the cradle and pulled the infant to his chest. _

_However, he was met with crimson ichor raining from his back, painting the bed in the room like a canvas. _

* * *

"You couldn't wait for your chakra to come back, could you?" Hitode's smooth voice echoed in the spacious room. "You think you are going to have as much of a shot without those abilities of yours?" Pulling her hair back, she began to tie it up into a large ponytail.

In front of her, Biteki was beginning to take off a number of crystalline gourds from his belt. "Don't doubt me, I'm still just as capable. I can match you with ease." The prideful boy took his time setting a number of items down on the floor. Cubes of iridescent metal along with the gourds shimmered as the light hit them from the high windows above.

Hitode hummed lightly, stretching her body back and forth. "If you say so~ Don't be upset when I beat you into the ground." The two had been rivals for quite a few years, and were always evenly matched when purely fighting with taijutsu. Using Ninjutsu was a different story, but the two had an unspoken rule for that. "Are you done putting your toys away? Can we go on and start?"

Stretching his muscular arms, a manic grin split Biteki's face. "Let's go then." Upon saying this, everything seemed to go quiet. Time slowed. There was no movement. Each waited for the other to make the first move.

Finally, Biteki made the first move.

Rushing towards the girl, he quickly slammed his right foot towards her head, only to be blocked by her forearm. Twisting his body unnaturally, he brought his left heel down on her head and blocked the punch coming from below by crossing his arms over each other.

'_Damn it, she's still got that strength.' _Wincing at the momentary pain that spread through his body, Biteki grabbed the second punch coming for him. He did not, however, see the kick coming for him as the girl flipped herself backwards.

As pain broke through his jaw, he steadied himself on the ground before both he and Hitode blitzed towards each other, easily matching each other in speed. As their fists clashed and stopped each other, Biteki slammed his elbow into her face and attempted to plant his knee in her stomach.

Her arm blocked him again and pushed his leg back as she swung a powerful punch into his core. Tightening his core, Biteki let the air in his lungs out quickly as he was hit to keep himself from losing his breath.

Shielding his face as she brought her leg down in a hammer kick, he shoved her off and attempted to kick towards her head. As she ducked under, Biteki hit her jaw with his knee.

Slipping into a crouching position, Hitode attempted to sweep her leg under Biteki, and as he jumped upwards, she threw herself up and plunged her elbow into his core, sending him backwards.

Jumping towards him and fracturing the ground with her powerful kick, Biteki rolled out of the way at the last moment, grabbing the punch that followed and swinging the back of his fist around to hit her face.

Vaulting upwards, Biteki began to kick towards his enemy, having every kick countered by a guard until he finally performed a mid-air spin and slammed his heel down, breaking her guard and causing her to fall to the ground.

That didn't last long though, for as soon as Biteki landed on the ground, she had regained her footing as well. "You've got a little bit of an edge here, you know that?" Biteki smirked as he looked at the wound on her forehead from his kick quickly heal over.

"I told you that you're gonna get beaten into the ground!" In a blur, she managed to reach Biteki's position and slam her fist into his face. Biteki, however, had predicted that much would happen, and kept his position, before bringing his right leg up and slamming a kick into her torso, pushing her back.

"You're holding back, Hitode. I can't stand it when people hold back." Biteki's words were laced with venom, but the two always gave each other their 100%. Any less and it was disrespectful.

'_You want it all then? Alright.' _Hitode smirked as she poked her index and middle finger out on both of her hands. Rushing towards him, she began to spear her fingers towards specific points of his body. However, going on the defensive, he blocked the strikes with his forearms, careful not to let her actually hit his body.

As her arm was pushed to the side, she changed course and grabbed hold of his forearm. Thrusting him in the air, she quickly slammed him back into the ground in a full arc. "Come on, Biteki, don't give up so soon!"

Sweeping his leg under her, Biteki managed to knock Hitode off of her feet. Bringing his fist down on her, he slammed into her stomach with unrelenting force that caused Hitode to force down bile that threatened to rise in her throat.

Planting her palms on the ground, she brought her left foot up, countering the incoming punch and forcing Biteki into the air and a reasonable distance away.

At this point, the two were beginning to take deep breaths as adrenaline pumped through them. Rushing towards each other again, they passed each other and brought a back-hand strike from either side, Biteki's left hand coming towards her right hand. Ducking under her punch, Biteki snaked around Hitode's body and catched her head in a hold with his elbow before slamming her into the ground.

Dodging the elbow piercing towards her, she rolled over his back and planted her knee into his stomach. Grabbing under her knee, Biteki threw her back by throwing her off of her feet.

Finally catching each others hands, they locked their fingers in both hands as a power struggle began. Each of them attempted to force the other back, their grunts being the only sound in the large room. Pushing back, Hitode used the moment to jab her fingers into several spots of Biteki's torso, causing his posture to slump and the feeling in his chest to go numb.

'_Without his bone guard, this technique is perfect against him.' _Hitode assured herself as she moved to attack again. However, surprising the young girl, Biteki still continued fighting. Grabbing hold of her shoulders, he forced her to his quickly rising knee, knocking the wind out of her as spittle dripped from her lips.

Following up on the strike, he began a flurry of blows to her abdomen, each punch forcing her upwards into the air, before finally finishing off the series with a kick that knocked her into the wall, fracturing it greatly. "You got too confident!" Sighing to himself, he walked over slowly. "Do you want to stop for the day?"

Almost as an answer to his hubris filled question, she suddenly snapped her eyes open to blitz towards him, delivering a flurry of jabs to his arms, causing them to go limp. Refusing to allow himself to be defeated that quickly, Biteki began to utilize his legs to the fullest of their potential, pulling one knee up and beginning to hop around with little difficulty.

Kicking away a jab that came towards him, he quickly grabbed hold of her arm in a scissor hold by expertly twirling his grounded leg up. Twisting her arm horribly, he kicked her away at the last moment before catching himself back on the ground, his arms limp at his side.

The sound wasn't pleasant, but Hitode ignored the sharp pain as her arm seemed to twist back to its natural position, the bones quickly healing and the muscles reattaching. "You could hurt someone doing things like that!"

"That's the point!" Giving little time for recovery, Biteki was in her face yet again, a kick aimed directly towards her head. However, as Hitode moved to guard her face, he revealed the true intentions of the kick being a distraction as he used his other leg to sweep her off of her feet and cause her to fall to the ground.

As her back harshly hit the ground, the breath was pushed out of her as Biteki's foot slammed on her chest. Looking down at her, a smug grin formed on his face. "Forfeit."

Contemplating her decisions, she figured that it was enough sparring for the day. "Alright, alright, I forfeit." As she gradually sat back up, she surprised Biteki by jabbing her fingers into a spot in the back of his neck, causing his body to go limp. "You haven't fallen for that trick in years, you must be pretty out of it."

Aggressively gritting his teeth as he attempted to bring feeling back to his limbs, he began to spit his words like daggers. "That was cheap, and you know it!"

"Doesn't matter if it was cheap, you would do the same if you were in my position." Hitode stuck her tongue out playfully. "You'll be okay in a little bit, just sit there and think about the fact that I was right~"

Biteki huffed as his sat motionless, mentally writhing inside. She was right, he normally never would let himself get caught like that, and that's what made him so upset. He had to work to make himself better without the use of his bloodlines, he knew that, but it was easy to forget it.

'_I really hope no one sees me like this.' _

* * *

_Ox, Snake, Ram, Rat, Monkey, Hare…._

* * *

_How long had she been wandering the woods? How many times had she hidden from something crossing her path, barely covering herself in bushes and managing to be completely invisible to them? _

_She had wanted to scream out to them. Beg and plead for them to save her, save her mother, save her entire family. But she couldn't. She never would be able to. _

_The only thing she could do at this point was keep going. And she did just that. As the moon was at its highest, she was at her most active period, running furiously. Running both from, and to, something. What she was heading for, however, she did not yet know. _

* * *

Without the ability to use her scroll to talk, Midori felt the memories of life was as a kid coming back to her. She had begun carrying around a small board to write things down for people who didn't understand her signing, and had found herself missing the "voice" she had when using the scroll.

The past few weeks had been relaxing, but she was beginning to get restless and found herself almost craving the adrenaline of actual battle. She didn't like being holed up in the containment facility, and desperately wanted to leave and find some way to get home.

When Zennou had explained to her, as well as everyone else, just what had happened, it had been...unexpected. The reactions were fairly different, with some responding with anger and others simply accepting it. But for the time being, a good amount of them had embraced the small break they had and began to relax.

But that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to feel her chakra again, she wanted to talk again, she wanted to be on the battlefield with Menma back home, helping to protect where she was raised.

A part of her knew though. She knew that if she participated in the war, she was going to face her family, and she was going to face _her_ at some point. It was the fact of war. People that were once family and friends could become enemies in an instant, and she was expected to end them just as she would anyone else.

Shaking her head, she attempted to cast aside the thoughts in her mind. Turning her attention back to the scrolls, books, and photographs in front of her, Midori attempted to recall the differences between the two worlds. When Muko had first met with her personally, it took them a small amount of time to understand her muteness. However, once they understood, things went incredibly easy.

She had asked them for a number of maps of the nations, as well as some history books as to compare the two worlds, and they gave her plenty to work off of. On occasions, she and Zennou looked over it together, but she had done the majority of it on her own time.

Slowly opening her notebook, she set aside the tassel that kept her place. On the left side, pages upon pages of differences she had already noted. On the right side, endless potential for new discoveries.

Flipping open the history book to where she last left off, she began writing in her notebook.

'_The Uchiha clan massacre was headed by Uchiha Itachi, the inciting point being the Kyuubi attack that occurred during the birth of Uzumaki Naruto.' _Pausing for a moment, she lightly hummed to herself. '_Note- The Kyuubi attack never occurred for us, so the Uchiha clan massacre never occurred.' _Making a mental note of the several other massacres that didn't happen in their world, Midori couldn't help but laugh to herself.

Whereas a large majority of the Senju clan had all but disappeared in this world, they were still entirely prevalent in her world. The destruction of Uzushiogakure had been attempted long ago, however, Konohagakure defended their sister village and managed to keep them prosperous, meaning Uzumakis were also still quite prevalent in Konoha in her world.

Silently laughing to herself, she made another note in the margins of her notebook. '_This world lets their clans get killed far too easily.' _

Pulling out various maps, Midori immediately noticed one large village known as Otagakure had been reclaimed by Konohagakure and the Land of Fire, along with the territory it claimed. It was surprising to her, as Otagakure was another sister village to Konoha in her world, however, whereas the history books she had read portrayed Orochimaru as a villain, he was easily the top contributor to the scientific advancements of the village in her world.

So many things were different and yet so much was the same. Looking back, she attempted to find some further discrepancies.

What she came upon, however, surprised her more than anything so far. A tattered, yellowed piece of paper, tucked neatly into the page of one of the books.

The handwriting was barely eligible, messy and unintelligible. However, in all of her years of reading poorly drawn maps, chicken-scratch like this was nothing for her.

It detailed a prophecy that had once been told of two children, reincarnates of Indra and Asura Otsutsuki, that would save the world. The handwriting got smaller and smaller as the author of this note began to do what Midori could only describe as written mumbling. They talked of how the cycle was broken with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, and how the previous reincarnates had been Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama.

Immediately, Midori's mind began to do backflips. '_This cycle isn't in our world! That's completely different from our world!' _She began to rush to write everything about the prophecy in her notebook, writing down every branching difference these caused and how they were caused by different things in her world or didn't happen altogether.

Finally, her attention was drawn from her excitement over this new discovery.

Her growling stomach screamed at her to venture to the kitchen and feed it. And as much as she wanted to continue looking into this, she knew that it would only get worse if she didn't listen to it. One thing that had always steered her in the right direction was her stomach, considering it was what somehow landed her in Konoha's territory, and would end up getting her entire life truly started.

Smiling solemnly, she was grateful for one thing that came from being brought to this strange world. She hadn't had her bouts of extreme pain the entire time she had been there. Her hand instinctively reached over her heart, remembering the nights of agonizing pain that seemed to pierce every nerve in her body.

But she wouldn't think of that for the moment. No, she was genuinely free for the moment, and that was what mattered to her for the time being.

Pushing off of the ground, she winced at the momentary pain that went through her bare arms from where the indent of the wood had imprinted on her skin.

Cracking open the door, she sighed as everyone was still gathered in the common area, chatting as loudly as ever. Pursing her lips, she began her adventure from her room. With tunnel vision on the fridge, she bumped into a few people that had been in the way, but they said nothing to her as most tended to just stay quiet when Midori did things like that.

Her glare was more lethal than any blade.

Making it to the fridge, she opened it up, searching for the meal she had ordered. Rice balls with assorted fillings. It was simple, but it was something she had grown to love. However, when her eyes finally rested on their tray, she felt her blood begin to boil.

Pulling the dish out, there was only one out of the six rice balls that had been left there from when she had last seen it. The wrapping was also poorly replaced on it, letting air freely roam under.

A vein threatened to burst in her forehead as her eyes seemed to glare into the plate for what seemed like eternity. Finally, her head snapped up at an inhuman speed, scanning every single face in the room, looking for the slightest amount of rice on someone's face, or even some filling. Anything, anything at all to let her incriminate them.

As the throbbing in her head began to reach a climax, the anger within her reached a boiling point. Hinging her mouth open, an ungodly screech came from within, albeit seemingly muffled and barely audible. It wasn't enough to draw attention from most, however, it certainly caught the attention of a few nearby.

It wasn't much, but it was a surprise to them, as most thought she was incapable of making any sound at all. Gritting her teeth, Midori snatched the remaining rice ball out and slammed it into her mouth whole. As she walked past the trash can, she dumped the ceramic plate into it, halting all conversation as the dish shattered.

Having very little care for it, Midori simply walked back to her room, where she resumed her research.

* * *

_With a clap of their hands, a sudden shift began to form around them. Time seemed to halt, and space seemed to warp. And for a moment, the world seemed to cease all natural orders. _

"_And just like that...It is done."_

* * *

**Senju Zennou (16 years old)**

**Rank: Jounin**

**Team Shinwa/Team 14**

**Power:S+**

**Ninjutsu:S**

**Art Skills:B**

**Creepiness:S++**

**Social Understanding:F-**

**\- Zennou is one of two twins born to Senju Tsunade. Raising him was difficult for the Fifth Hokage, given his unique challenges that came with him, however, she still did everything she could for him. He was extremely advanced as a child, and could have been high in the ranks at a very young age, but purposefully chose to keep himself back as to grow with teammates. **

**XXXXX**

**Senju Hitode (16 years old)**

**Rank: Chuunin**

**Team Kyuuki/Team 10**

**Medical Ninjutsu: S+**

**Strength:S**

**Charisma:S**

**Meeting Self Imposed Expectations: C**

**Genjutsu: C**

**\- Hitode is the first born twin to Senju Tsunade. Given her extreme similarity to Tsunade, she was trained in a good number of skills frequently used by her mother. However, given the high reputation of Tsunade and how highly everyone thought of Zennou, she found herself constantly second guessing her own abilities and setting expectations for herself. **

**XXXXX**

**Kosshi Biteki (16 Years Old) **

**Rank: Chuunin**

**Team Hinata/Team 19**

**Taijutsu: S**

**Bloodlines:S+**

**Hubris:S++**

**Clan:F-**

**Bonsai Skills:B**

**\- Biteki was born to two civilian parents, however, due to their long lineage, a number of bloodlines ultimately culminated in him and awoke. Because of his impressive abilities, he developed an unhealthy amount of pride and hubris. Despite this, growing up, he was unheard of at times due to only being from a civilian family instead of a clan, which had a heavy impact on his viewing of society when it came to clans and civilians. **

**XXXXX**

**Ningyoushi Midori (16 Years Old) **

**Rank: Chuunin**

**Team Menma/Team 12**

**Genjutsu: A+**

**Stealth:S+**

**Talking:F-**

**Cartography:B+**

**Smugness:A**

**\- Hailing from Takigakure, Midori was from the Ningyoushi clan. This clan possessed an unorthodox cooperation with the Shiwasu clan of Takigakure. However, she managed to flee and escape to Konoha at a young age, where she was found by Senju Zennou. For a large portion of her childhood, she was borderline feral and extremely unpredictable. **

* * *

**Hey hey! Not much to say here this time, but anyone who needs an extension on the deadline, don't be afraid to ask, I understand that a lot comes up and Midterms and Exams are also around this time of year! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you all next time~ Ciao!**


	4. Chapter 1- Momentarily Eternal

**OP 1- Kami no Manimani- Rib Kashitarou Itou**

_The sneers and insults of his fellow children began to become replaced by thrown rocks, and from more hateful kids, kunai. He only continued running, the ground under his feet becoming water before he even knew it. Smearing his tears along the entirety of his arm, his vision became blurry as his purple eyes became puffy. _

_Failing to realize it, he found himself surrounded by water on all sides. He did not know how far in he was, but he could tell that no one had followed him by the lack of any harsh names or objects being thrown. Just as he thought the tears had stopped, he remembered something else one of his bullies had said, and the sobs began yet again. _

"_**Are… you hurt?"**_ _The voice was deep, and massive. It echoed from all around him, and as he looked to the source, he was met with a single, gargantuan crimson eye. _"_**You seem...sad."**_

_Frozen in a mixture of fear and awe, he wiped his eyes and sucked up any snot coming from his nose. Words finally came to him. "No, I'm fine. They always miss, their aim is terrible." _

"_**Would you like me to help you back to shore?" **__A green hand gently laid flat in front of the boy, palm upwards. _"_**You could get hurt."**_

_Taking a look around, and then back at the gigantic hand, he nodded. "Yes, please. Thank you." Softly climbing into the palm of the hand, Meisai sat down and crossed his legs over each other. _

"_**You are very polite, that is a good trait to have."**_ _Waves began to form as the carrier began their journey to a shore. _"_**I once knew a man who was just like you." **_

_Eyes growing wide in awe, the boy looked directly into the large eye of whoever, or whatever, was carrying him. "You did? I'm sure they were better than I am…" Sighing as he looked down at his hands, his momentary excitement already dissipated. "Say… What's your name?" _

_Surprised at the question, the carrier couldn't help but smile to themselves. That question had rarely been asked of them. Much less by random children. But it was refreshing to hear nonetheless. _"_**My name?" **_

"_**My name is…"**_

* * *

It had been about a month in total before everyone had fully recovered. It had started with Zennou, to no one's surprise. When the small black orbs began floating behind him again, Zasshu immediately took to running through the halls of their containment facility, shouting about how, "God is on the mend, we're up next!"

Of course, that wasn't exactly a good thing for everyone. Kudoku experienced what he had described as the worst pain he ever felt in his life as he momentarily felt every single one of his insects within his body feeding on his chakra. Things were even worse for Muko, who had been meeting with him at the time, and quickly found themselves covered in a number of spider-like bugs.

Blowing her hair out of her eye, Risa groaned as she leaned against a nearby wall. "Why is he taking so long? If he's supposed to be our team leader, I would've thought he'd be here before us." Adjusting the crimson forehead protector around her neck, she loudly cracked her knuckles together. They had been away from their world long enough, and desperately needed to get back. So whatever they were doing here, she wanted to go on and get it started so she could get back as soon as possible.

"He's almost here." A deep voice that made Risa feel like someone had scraped their nails on a chalkboard came from behind her. Looking back to the Aburame, her deep orange eyes immediately settled on the beetle on Kudoku's finger.

'_Was he even talking to us?' _Despite being placed in a team together, and having known their teams for almost a week now, Kudoku had said less to her in that week than in all the years she'd known him. Shaking her head, she began to do a quick check-over of her equipment.

Instinctively, her hand first went to the ninjato angled on her back. After not being able to don it like this for a month, she was getting used to the blade again. Reaching into her material pouch on her waist, she felt the small scrolls, the shuriken, and assorted other materials. "Does everyone have everything they need? No one forgot any of their equipment at the facility?"

She couldn't tell what was going on behind Kudoku's crimson lenses, but he had obviously moved to look at her. The large, scarlet gourd on his back surprisingly made no buzzing sounds, as Risa was sure that it would make some sound of horrific symphony between all of the bugs inside of it. "Yes, I have everything." Again, his voice made her hair stand on end. Nonetheless, she nodded.

"Yup, everything is here!~" A stark contrast to the vocal equivalent to forks on plates, Hitode's smooth voice put Risa to ease. "I wonder what Meisai-sensei is like. Will he be funny, will he be mean?~" Filled with wonder, Hitode pulled her large ponytail tight, making sure it wouldn't come loose if something were to happen. Her purple forehead protector sat tightly tied around her right thigh, proudly bearing Konoha's sigil, while the Senju clan symbol was prominent on the back of her cropped emerald top.

The trio was interrupted as their mentor finally showed up. Towering over all of them, almost an entire foot taller than Kudoku's five feet and eight inches, they were all surprised by the look of him. A number of bamboo jugs sat in the sash of his loosely-tied kimono, revealing his vibrant green shirt and grey pants underneath. "My name is Kaimen Meisai, I will be your mentor. I apologize for being late, I was getting some things settled." Nodding slowly, he looked them over. "We will be patrolling a number of locations within the Land of Fire. I'd say we got the best deal, considering that the other teams have to go to other villages."

"Before we head off, please, introduce yourselves and tell something interesting about yourself." Meisai sat on the stump of a recently cut tree as he awaited their answer.

Eager to answer, Hitode immediately started. "My name is Senju Hitode, I have synaesthesia! When I touch something, I also experience a smell and a sound!~"

'_Hitode, she's the daughter of Tsunade. She takes after her in quite a few ways…' _Noting the diamond-shaped symbol on her forehead, a smile fell on Meisai's handsome face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hitode." Turning his attention to Risa, he nodded at her as a signal for her to go.

"I'm Yoriga Risa, and I can't stand any kinds of skirts or dresses." Keeping it concise, Risa cracked her knuckles again as she waited for Kudoku to answer so they could be on their way.

'_Risa, she's from the Yoriga clan in Iwagakure. She's one of the ones with a bloodline as well..' _Meisai nodded to himself. '_That leaves the Aburame.'_

"Aburame Kudoku. I don't see the point in this, as you knowing useless things about us does not help at all. It would've helped you more if you asked us about our abilities, or asked us about what we are lacking in. Small tal-"

"Just tell him something about yourself, bug boy!" Risa cut him off as she yelled at him, annoyed that he was talking so much when he could've just said something and got it over with.

She stared at his crimson-lensed sunglasses just as she was sure he was staring at her. For a moment, things were entirely silent. Finally, he patted down his azure overcoat and looked back at Meisai. "I am the only current member of my clan to be housing the Bikouchuu." Holding his finger up, he showed the long-nosed beetle.

"I asked because I feel teams can only properly work together when they can begin to work together emotionally. To be in sync physically, you must be in sync emotionally and mentally." Humming to himself, he let out a small sigh. "Oh! I forgot to tell you all something about me!"

The trio of teenagers looked to the man who was barely older than them. What would it possibly be? Would it be something about how he became a jounin so young?

Pulling out a small pipe-like object, he dunked it into one of the jars in his sash. Bringing it to his lips, he began to blow into it. Suddenly, a torrent of bubbles erupted from the pipe. "I like bubbles!"

Risa all but fell to the ground. '_If he's supposed to be leading us, we're going to die.' _

Stepping off of the stump, Meisai stretched his long body in a number of ways, wincing at the loud _pops_ his joints made. "So, with that out of the way, let's go!" In mere moments, the team was gone from their spot, already on their way to the first location they were told to investigate.

* * *

"_Oi oi, Long Face." The crack of a bone being snapped echoed through the clearing, barely muffled by the leaves on the trees. "What are you going to do now? Your buddies are all gone. And a whole lot of good you managed to do."_

"_**In fact, if I were in your shoes, I would just roll over and let myself be killed." **_

_Despite the blood dripping from his lips, and the pain as the man stepped on his broken arms yet again, the young boy felt a smile form across his face. "Then it's a good thing my shoes are a little too small for you." _

_Unable to answer, the man suddenly felt excruciating pain as the bones and muscles of his face horribly morphed, no longer resembling anything slightly human as they elongated. 'The fuck did this kid do to me?!' _

"_I know I shouldn't pick on my elders," Taking advantage of the man stumbling away, the boy stood up slowly. Pushing through the pain of his broken bones, he brought his hands together in a seal. "But you should really learn to watch your mouth. It should be a lot easier now, __**Long Face**__." _

_Taking a deep breath in, the boy exhaled out a stream of flames, immolating the suffering man._

* * *

"Would anyone like some orange slices?" Nibui's voice was shaky, to say the least. He held out the small pouch as he cleared his throat. He looked over the team in front of him, and was fairly taken aback by them. The first to grab the slices was the shortest among them, Onimaru Kaki. Her bright orange hair stood out among the crimson heads of Zennou and Kanemaru, but even more that stood out was her fairly short height, standing at four feet and ten inches.

"Zennou, you've got to try some of these! They are so sweet!" Taking a few more slices, Kaki returned to her spot next to Kanemaru. She offered a slice to him, but he only gave her a momentary scowl before looking away as he checked over the pockets of his black flak jacket, counting his weapons in his material pouch. As he felt over the blade of a shuriken, he showed no care at the small stream of blood that began to pour from his finger. Instead, he merely traced the blood along every finger.

'_Uzumaki Kanemaru, it looks like he might be the difficult one in the bunch.'_ Nibui took a deep breath in. "Kanemaru, are you sure you don't want any? Hydration is very important when travelling for a long period of time."

"I'd rather gather the water on our way. Oranges hardly give enough water." Kane swished around the flask of water he had grabbed from his pouch, indicating the fullness of it. Kaki mumbled something from beside him, but he decided to ignore it for the moment. He may not have liked it, but these people were his team for the moment. Placing the flask back in the pouch, he ran his hands through his hair, pulling his choppy claret ponytail tight.

Popping another orange slice in her mouth, Kaki loudly sighed. "You're the one missing out. Zennou and I will be the ones getting a treat." Nudging the much taller boy in his exposed midriff, Zennou nodded at her statement as he chewed on a few slices himself.

"Their sweetness surpasses the most tantalizing mochi." A wave of sighs passed between the group. Kanemaru and Kaki may have been used to his unnecessary speech patterns, but Nibui realized he had a lot to still get accustomed to. "Nibui-sensei, what are we going to be doing? What is the Hokage's plan to get us home?"

Nibui perked up at the question. "Yes, yes, plans!" Taking quick breaths, Nibui readied himself. He was fine with Kaki and Kanemaru as subordinates, but he couldn't understand for the life of him why he had been placed in charge of the kid with the eyes of The Sage. "Uhm, one moment…" Digging around in a small pack he had slung from his back, he pulled out a number of scrolls.

Pulling the scroll open, he revealed a large map of surrounding areas. "We will be travelling to Yugakure, where there was a large chakra anomaly that resembled the one that you all came through."

"Yugakure had that huge ritual incident recently in our world, didn't they?" Kanemaru was the first to answer, referring to the strange discovery that was Nibui read in one of the ANBU reports of the alternate world. It seemed that they had already known about that specific event, as Kaki winced at the news and Zennou slightly grunted. It was hard to not know about it though, considering they came from the world where it happened.

Nibui felt a lump in his throat, swallowing it down harshly. "Yes. ANBU from your world believed it had to deal with a sect of Jashinism."

"Those guys always have something going on, don't they?" Kanemaru gritted his teeth as his nails dug into his palms.

From his left though, Zennou voiced his opinion. "Many will do whatever they think is right for their deity. Just as we as shinobi will do whatever we believe is right for the Hokage."

"People don't look up to the Hokage like a god." Kanemaru harshly snapped back.

"They have in the past, they will in the future." Zennou remained calm as he retorted.

Before Kanemaru could say anything else, Kaki pushed her hands between the two. "Man, you two could use a drink. You just need to take a deep breath and listen to Nibui-sensei."

"Th-thank you, Kaki." Clearing his throat, Nibui pointed back to the maps. "We will be investigating both Yugakure and the surrounding areas, to see if any of those events from your world had an effect on our world, and to see if anyone else from your world was brought over to our world."

Clenching the large scroll in front of him, Kanemaru's thick eyebrows furrowed. "Hold on, there could be more people from our world here?"

"Yes, and they could be friend or foe. Obviously the disturbance that happened here was far larger, but it's still wise to look into these areas." Nibui nodded slowly. As he began to speak, he was quickly interrupted.

"And why do we need you?" Kanemaru harshly spat the words like venom. "No offense, but we're all fairly competent here, and we have a jounin with us." He lightly gestured towards Zennou.

Truth be told, it was known among the shinobi of their world that their group was extremely powerful, most of them already easily being above the average jounin. However, aside from Zennou, none of them had been promoted yet, and the reason was still lacking to most within their village.

"Wouldn't you rather he just lead us and you stay behind here?" Kanemaru, once again, spoke almost passive aggressively.

Admittedly, while words like those would've hurt him years ago, Nibui had grown stronger when it came to his emotions on his mundane nature. "You are all still young, and I have at least ten years of experience on all of you. I may not be as stronger than all of you, but I am wiser. That experience is the key between life and death."

Gritting his teeth, Kanemaru failed to come up with any logical comebacks. He knew he was right. Plus, there was strength in numbers. So, regrettably, he had to accept it with a slight grunt.

"Sensei, how many of these anomalies are there?" Zennou spoke suddenly, eyes wide with curiosity.

Nibui read over a scroll quickly before looking back up. "About five, from what we could tell. One here in the Land of Fire, a few hours away from here. It appears that…" Tracking his finger down the chart, Nibui landed on his target. "Kaimen Meisai and his team will be taking over that investigation. Then there is our investigation in Yugakure and its surrounding areas. One in Takigakure, manned by Nasu Kuroka and her team. One near Kirigakure, manned by Hyuuga Han and his team. And finally, one near Otagakure, manned by Muko and their team."

Nodding slowly, Zennou looked at the ground as he spoke. "So we will all be fairly spread out from each other, yes?"

"Yes. I understand the worry of not being in your original team compositions that you all talked to Muko about, however, the Hokage feels that different teams will work well for you all. He is also making arrangements for some of you already." Nibui gave an unnecessary response, however, Zennou enjoyed it nonetheless.

"What kind of arrangements?" Kaki gave Nibui a wide-eyed look that could melt the coldest of hearts.

"We can not reveal yet." Nibui bluntly caused her look of wonder to dissipate to disappointment. "If there are no further questions, shall we be on our way?"

Without saying a word, Kanemaru attached the large, almost gargantuan scroll to the straps on his lower torso as Kaki checked her assorted scrolls within the pockets of her pink dress-like attire as well as donned her knuckle-dusters. Zennou made no check, only adjusting the cropped grey scale-like jacket over his red mesh cropped top as he walked forward, orbs of black chakra floating behind him.

* * *

'_She'll always be more talented…'_

"_Very nice job, Shiroi!" The proud voice of her parents could be clearly heard as her sister managed to impress them yet again. Sure, she could be good with a sword, but her sister? She was amazing with it. _

"_Kuroka, come in here!" Her parents called her in, wanting the entire family to see the greatness of Shiroi. _

_Walking in quietly, she bowed in the doorway before taking a seat beside her father. In front of them, an azure-haired girl stood, a simple tanto in hand. "Begin, Shiroi." Her father was brief, wanting to see if she could replicate her previous result. _

_Nodding, the girl quickly unsheathed the blade and unleashed a flurry of slashes and skillful carves on the log in front of her. In mere moments, the thick log had become a masterful sculpture of their family, including even the most minor details. _

'_To be identitical exceeds far more than the surface…' Recalling the words spoken to her many times before, she couldn't help but wonder just how wrong they were. Looking intensely at the sculpture, and hearing the praise for her sister echo in her ears, she began to shrink into herself. 'We couldn't be more different…'_

* * *

"Let's go, come on! We get to get out of that place and get on our way today!" Zasshu's excitable tone could be heard from far away as he practically hopped around his two companions. "Kuroka-sensei is waiting for us!"

"We know, Zasshu. You have reminded us several times." Junko dully replied, already feeling the annoyance that would come from being in a team with the energetic boy.

Pulling her scroll open, Midori quickly scribbled on it with the pen that channeled her chakra. "I am also excited to see who we have been placed on." Furrowing her brow, she noticed her mistake on the slowly fading chakra ink. "Under. I meant under."

"I know, right?!" Ignoring the expressions of Junko, Zasshu locked arms with Midori quickly, mock-marching beside her. "I bet she's gonna be super cool! She'll tell us stories of her old days, maybe she'll have gruesome war scars to show us! And we'll be all, 'Ooooh~' and she'll be like, 'Yeah, it's cool.'" Locking eyes with the mint-haired girl, Zasshu gave a wide smile. "Don't you think, Midori?!"

As she strained to reach her arm to write on her scroll, Zasshu quickly let go of her arm. "She may not be much like Menma-sensei, but I'm sure she will be equally interesting!" Midori gave a content smile to her companion.

"I do not envy Menma right now. First he had to worry about the political tensions, and now our disappearance." Junko lightly sighed as she ran her hand through her light brown hair. Luckily, she had been teammates with Midori ever since they were Genin, so the two of them were properly acquainted. But Zasshu… He was very different from Shinzo, and disrupted the team order she had grown used to.

"Ah, yes, yes, I am sure they are very worried about us. But! That's all the more reason for us to get this started and for us to work to make it back!" Zasshu pumped his fist into the air before pulling his curly mane into a tight ball near his nape. "Besides, who knows what we can learn from her!? We'll get back to our world and be the mightiest protectors Konoha has ever had!" Posing heroically, Zasshu began laughing.

"Could you please contain yourself?" Junko coldly asked, glaring at the mahogany skinned boy. "I've dealt with children who aren't nearly as hyper as you."

"What can I say?~" Zasshu began talking smoothly. "I'm one of a kind, no one can replicate me."

"I believe we are all unique in our own way, Zasshu. But, you're definitely the happiest of us." Midori quickly wrote on her scroll. "It's refreshing in dark times."

Zipping in between Midori and Junko, he put an arm on the shoulder of each of them. "Well, thank you~ I'll always take a compliment where I can get it~" Blowing a raspberry at Junko, he walked along jovially.

As they approached the meeting area, they quickly noted the woman carving intricate designs in trees with a tanto. Without turning around to greet them, she spoke. "Greetings. My name is Nasu Kuroka, I will be your team leader during your time here."

"Are we doing introductions?!" Zasshu excitedly looked at the azure-haired woman. "My name is Hibana Zasshu, I was originally from Kumogakure but my parents and I moved to Konohagakure when I was…" Taking a second to physically count on his fingers, he remembered. "Six! I'm really fast and I ca-"

"Thank you, that's enough. Just your name will suffice for now, I don't need your entire life story." Kuroka cut the boy off, causing his excitement to visibly dampen.

Junko began next, appearing placid and uninterested with needless small talk. "I am Shimura Junko."

"Shimura? As in, the Shimura Clan? Any relations to the Shimura Danzo?" Kuroka asked, contradicting her previous statement but caring nonetheless.

This question, though, sent something through Junko, as she visibly changed and became...rigid. "Yes, I am his granddaughter."

"Well, th-"

Cutting off Kuroka before she could continue this series of questions, Midori interjected by quickly writing on her scroll. "I am Ningyoushi Midori, Kuroka-sensei." Bowing, she hoped it would take her attention from Junko. As she had gotten older, Midori had seen Junko change when it came to the topic of her grandfather.

"Right, you can't talk because…" Noting the expression that Midori made, she stopped herself. Junko knew what was being referred to, as did Zasshu, but all of them just figured that it was still such a touchy subject that it would be best left alone. Interesting enough, Junko always compared it to the Hyuuga Clan and their branch family.

"Anyways, that is quite the interesting scroll there." Kuroka walked closer and took a look at the pen and the fading chakra ink on the blank scroll. "How does it work?"

It took a few moments, but Midori furiously wrote in a hurry on the scroll, filling every empty space with ink. Finally, the words began to be spoken as she continued writing. "Menma-sensei made it for me! I flow my thoughts into my chakra, and then flow it through the pen. The pen converts the chakra into temporary ink, which then vocalises the thoughts when on the scroll. It is a lot like Genjutsu, in a sense. Menma said there is something special about me that allows it to work!"

Taking a moment for all of the ink to fade, she then wrote something again in much smaller size. "When I write it in a smaller size, it comes out like a whisper. And when I write it larger," Doing just that, it suddenly transformed into a shout. "IT COMES OUT LOUD!"

Kuroka's eyes shined with excitement at the sight of it. "Very interesting… Alright, sit down." With a swipe of her blade, she cut clean through three nearby trees, leaving only stumps. Gesturing to them, she waited for all three to sit down. Zasshu, notably, couldn't seem to stand sitting down. Bouncing his legs constantly, he fidgeted the entire time while his teammates sat still.

"Now, I already know a good amount about you all because of your files, however, I want to hear it specifically from you now. Tell me, what do you think each of you specializes in?" Kuroka leaned against a tree she hadn't cut down or carved into.

Yet again, Zasshu was the first to answer. "I'd say that I'm best with Lightning Release techniques and close-quarters combat! I mean, I do come from Kumogakure, but that's not the only reason why! I can also-"

"Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, that's a good combination." Again, cutting him off, Kuroka nodded slowly. "Thank you, Zasshu. Junko, you next."

"Given my bloodline, I excel in using different weapons. I can also use it to help with close combat and basic ninjutsu." Junko spoke slowly as she tried to provide an adequate answer for the mentor. "I am also quite experienced in combat and also skilled in stealth."

Kuroka slightly raised her eyebrows at the latter statement. "Bukijutsu is your main specialty, it seems. Then that leaves you, Midori."

Nodding, Midori slightly puffed her cheeks as she wrote. "I have always been told that my main skill is in Genjutsu! However, I also use Lightning Release Ninjutsu! Although, I have to say that I don't compare to Zasshu."

"Oh, Midori~ You're just saying that, trying to make me blush~" Fanning himself while also jokingly shooing her away, Zasshu snickered to himself. "I find some of your uses to be extremely interesting!"

Junko had to hold back a groan at the two. They had become recent friends before they had been brought to this world, and the two tended to compliment each other quite a bit.

"A Genjutsu Specialist then! Well then, it seems we have quite the tree of talent between you three." Nodding to herself a few times, she seemed to come up with a plan. "Alright then! Let's make our way to Takigakure! We've got plenty of time on the way to learn more on each other and ready ourselves to be a team."

Zasshu jumped up from his stump, unable to contain himself any further. "Yosh! Let's do this, it's gonna be so exciting!" He waited for his teammates to get up before he began zipping about. "Lead the way, Kuroka-sensei!"

Lagging behind the others, Midori had to brace herself. '_Takigakure...It's been a while…'_ Realizing she was falling behind, she quickly followed on the trail of the others.

* * *

_Throwing a punch his way, the boy managed to dodge yet again. She knew that she was outmatched here, but she was so tired of dealing with him, of dealing with his insults and sneers. _

"_It's a shame that you wanted to do this privately. Now I can't have a crowd of cheers when I beat you." His nasally voice only pissed her off more. Spinning her body at incredible speeds, she managed to plant her elbow into his face, causing him to slam into the ground. _

_Wiping the blood from his face, the sneer on his face grew violently. "Oh, how I wonder how the teachers will react to this?" Sweeping her off of her feet from the ground, he lightly chuckled. "Especially when I tell them how you ruthlessly attacked me out of jealousy." _

_As the wind was knocked out of her, she felt herself become filled with rage at that statement. Her chest suddenly felt hot, which transferred to her head, until her entire body began to feel overheated. _

_Jumping up to her feet, an intense heat suddenly emanated from her body, surprising the boy and causing him to put his guard up._

"_**Would you shut the hell up?!"**_

* * *

"Meisai-sensei, how exactly did you become a jounin so early?" Kudoku's unnerving voice broke through the silence that had set in between the quartet as they travelled between trees.

Surprised by the sudden question, Meisai lightly laughed. "Please, just call me Meisai. Calling me sensei makes me feel old, even if it is respectful." He figured the question would come up eventually, and given what he'd seen of Kudoku so far, it would've been sooner than later. "I put in a lot of work, and had a lot of help from a close friend to train my skills. Never underestimate how much a friend can help you, whether you realize they are a friend or not."

Slightly grunting to himself, Kudoku nodded. "Very well. I look forward to seeing if your skills are worthy of being a Jounin."

'_Is he evaluating me or something?' _Meisai sighed as he mentally noted the statement.

"You aren't a judge, he's leading us so deal with it! Besides, I'm sure he can do more than you can with your insects!" Risa snapped at Kudoku, already exhausted with the boy's lack of a filter.

Hitode groaned, but kept a cool head as she attempted to nip any arguments in the bud. "Please, you two. We are a team for now, and it is best if we work together. I know we may not like it, but let's try to understand each other and keep a rational mind. Besides, I'm sure we could end up working great together~"

Clenching her teeth, Risa loudly exhaled a puff of air from her nose. "Learn to watch your mouth, Kudoku."

"Honesty is-"

"Quiet. We're here." Meisai's usual calm voice was...unusually cold. As they came to a clearing in the trees, they were mortified at the sight. Perhaps the most harrowing of all was the high stacks of bodies. The small village had been attacked, there was no doubt about it. The houses had large vines growing through them, many of which had blood dripping from them and others with bodies still impaled on them.

Hitode let out a slow breath as the team passed by the bodies, all of them attempting not to breath in as to not smell the already decaying flesh. However, as she looked at the bodies, she noted two things. Many had multiple holes through their body, often a telling sign of a projectile or highly powerful attack, and almost all of the bodies were male.

As they entered the village, the wails of children and women became increasingly apparent. "Hitode, you are the best at Medical Ninjutsu. You focus on treating the injured. Kudoku, you locate any injured and bring them to her, or if needed, bring her to them. Risa, come with me."

Dispersing, Risa followed closely beside Meisai as he entered a building. There was no child crying in the house, in fact, this seemed to be one of the few houses with no loud cries. A gnarled vine came from one side of the house, carved its way through the main living room, and exited out of the other side. Huddled in a corner, a woman lightly huffed in air.

Her arms had a number of bruises, with her wrists possessing the worst bruises as if she had been chained up. Looking up at Meisai, she suddenly began to hyperventilate, her chest rising and falling rapidly. The tears that were welled up in her eyes began to roll down her cheeks as she desperately tried to crawl away, even though Meisai completely stopped advancing towards her, holding his arm out to stop Risa from going forward either.

Risa suddenly felt the coldness that Meisai had developed when they encountered the village dissipate, replaced by a much softer, warmer emotion that seemed to surround him. "Hey, it's going to be okay. We're here to help, we are from Konohagakure." Reaching into his kimono, he brought out a small bottle of water. Setting it on the ground, he slid it over to her, not wanting to come closer and risk a full panic attack erupting. "What happened to you? Who attacked this place?"

That last question caused her to clench her head in her hands as she began heavily breathing again. "They came from no where….we did everything we could to hold them off.." Her fingers lightly reached for the bottle, tipping the water back to her parched mouth. "We were powerless though...And then….then…" Her fingers traced the bruises on her wrists, and the tears began flowing. "What if they come back?! I can't take it, I can't…" Her pupils dilated and shrunk quickly.

"Meisai, I…" Risa began to speak softly to the salmon-haired man.

However, he cut her off. "Risa, I want you to stay in here and talk to her while I go help the others. I think she might talk to you more for this." He had a fairly good assumption of what had happened, but he wanted to be sure. But he could tell that he wasn't getting anywhere, because he simply wasn't the kind of person that woman wanted to be talking to at the moment.

Before she could reply, he was gone, and she was left alone with the shaking woman. Taking a few steps closer, Risa crouched in front of the woman with her arms rested on her knees. "Well...with him gone, is there anything you might want to say now?" Straining herself, she forced a smile while saying her next remark. "Girl to girl?"

With frightening speed, the woman grabbed hold of Risa's wrist. "Don't go against the one who uses plants. Don't let him see you. It's especially those who put up a fight he likes." The words registered in Risa, and caused her to almost feel sick. "He's a monster...he told us all how he wanted his clan to thrive again before he…"

"I know what you mean, you don't have to say it." Risa softly said this, genuinely providing a comforting smile to the woman. "We're going to help all of you, and I promise you, I will avenge you."

However, this didn't seem to bring far too much comfort to the woman. "He wants the strongest women he can find to rebuild his clan...he won't stop at anything to get what he wants."

Nodding slowly, Risa stood to her feet. "Is there anywhere severely hurt on you that you need healed?"

Clenching her teeth, the woman slowly shook her head as she went back to lightly sipping water from the bottle of water.

"Alright...we're going to try and get this place cleaned up." Risa muttered as she left the building. Immediately, she was greeted with a line of women on the ground, some having more grevious injuries than others, but all possessing the same bruises on their wrists as the woman in the house.

Coming from another house that seemed to barely be standing, only kept together by the thick vine that impaled it, Kudoku's voice sounded. "Could someone come help me?" Despite her annoyance towards the insect-weilding boy, she rushed in. Kudoku was kneeling down beside a boy in his early teens who was completely pinned down by the vine. Blood pooled around his torso, and the instability of the house was ever more present as beams fell from the ceiling around them. "Risa, thank you. I need you to cut the vine so we can get this boy out and immediately to Hitode."

Nodding, Risa pulled ninjato from its sheath on her back. Channeling her chakra through it, a crimson glow embraced the blade as she cut through the plant. "When I lift this, things are going to start coming down."

Without saying a word, beetles and dragonflies began to fly from the gourd on his back, as well as crawling out from underneath his overcoat. Forming a barrier, they provided a layer of support and protection on the ceiling. "It's best if you get him out quickly. I will help lift the vine, you grab him." The two grabbed hold of the cut section of the vine, lifting it in the air enough for Risa to grab hold of the now profusely-bleeding boy.

"Hitode! Come here, quick!" Risa yelled for the girl, hoping for her to meet her halfway so the boy wouldn't bleed out. Luckily, she managed to do just that.

Her arms were already stained with blood up to her elbows, and she was taking a number of deep breaths, but she was focused on her duties. Her hands became coated in thick green chakra as she immediately clamped them on the large wound on the boy's torso. Looking down, she saw a much worse wound on his right leg. Grimacing, she lightly nudged the boy's head. "Hey, buddy, what's your name?"

"Warui.." His voice was faint, and he was barely clinging to conscienceness.

"Well, Warui, we're going to get you feeling so much better. We're going to have to put you to sleep for a second, though. Okay?" Giving a sweet smile, her index and middle finger of her right hand became coated in blue chakra as she jabbed his temple, causing him to fall unconscious. "He's going to have to lose his leg. It's already developing an infection, it looks like a natural toxin is in there. It worked too fast, removing it won't do any good, the infection will lead to sepsis and kill him. These kinds of infections don't heal correctly with Medical Ninjutsu."

Risa knew that Hitode had done some pretty gruesome things, as all Medical-Nin often did, but an on-site amputation… "Hitode, what about the blood? Won't he bleed out?"

"Not if I do this right." Hitode grabbed hold of thick wire from her materials pouch and wrapped it around his upper thigh. '_The incision should be at about the middle of the thigh, to get rid of any possible infection and toxin that has progressed further up the leg.' _Forming a chakra scalpel around her hand, she looked up at Risa. "I am going to need you to hold him down. He may be unconscious, but his muscles are still going to react to this."

Nodding, Risa pinned her weight on his upper body and his other leg, not wanting either of them to be hit by the boy if he began flailing about. Sure enough, as Hitode began to precisely cut in the middle of the thigh, the boy seized and thrashed. As blood began to spurt from the wound, Risa looked away. After she had made it through the muscle and overall flesh, she began using a sterilized kunai that appeared to be serrated to saw through the bone. "Alright, Risa. I need you now. You need to cauterize his wound, then I can properly wrap and bandage it."

"I...what?" Risa was a bit dumbfounded at what Hitode had just said. However, it made sense. As Hitode pulled away the amputated limb, Risa coated her hand in blazing-hot chakra and began to apply it to the bleeding limb. The smell was horrid as the flesh was charred and burned at the wound site, however, the bleeding did begin to stop.

Hitode gave a smile to Risa as well as lightly squeezing her shoulder. "That's perfect. Now, I can handle it from here, you don't have to see this anymore."

Nodding, Risa got up. Turning to walk away, she let out a deep breath that she had been holding in for what might've been the entirety of the amputation. '_I'm going to tear whoever did this limb from limb.'_

* * *

"_Make plenty of friends in the academy, don't ever think you're too good for a friend." Her persistent voice was comforting to the claret haired boy._

_Licking her thumb, she wiped off a stain on his cheek, causing him to try and push her away. "Mom! I get it, I get it!" _

_Her soft voice suddenly changed though, turning cold and fearful. "You're all I have left. Please, please don't let anything happen to you. Don't get into any dangerous situations that could take you away." Ruffling his hair, she wiped away a tear that was forming. "I love you so much, and you have made me so proud." _

"_Thank you...I promise I won't let you down…" He knew how important it was that he keep himself strong for the both of them, and to get stronger in the academy. "I'll try not to get into too many fights!" _

"_If any of your teachers tell me you've been fighting, you'll have another thing to worry about when you get home!" She jokingly called after him as he left through the front door, running down the streets before jumping to the rooftops. _

_And as the wind blew softly, he knew that things were going to be good that day. He would make sure of it. _

* * *

While everyone else jumped from branch to branch on their way to Yugakure, Kaki flawlessly swung from each branch, launching her body while flipping mid-air.

"Kaki, is that not a little exhausting on you?" Kanemaru asked, looking down as she effortlessly twirled between the branches.

"Not at all! And it keeps me ready to go if something comes for us!" Kaki said between breaths, finally coming to a stop beside Kane on his branch. "Besides, if you wanna work out your legs and nothing else, be my guest. You'll just look like a beanpole on your top~" Lightly punching his shoulder, she continued on her acrobatic spree.

Letting out a sigh, Kanemaru caught up with Zennou and Nibui up ahead. "Nibui-sensei, how long is it going to take to reach Yugakure?"

"If we take the shortcut I have in mind, we should be there by tomorrow morning!" Nibui excitedly responded. "Although, the shortcut is a little dangerous. It is known for a variety of bandit attacks and robberies, so keep your guard up. We are almost there."

Kaki laughed from below them. "So we'll be able to beat up some bad guys and help some people even before we get where we're headed?"

"_And_ you'll be able to experience the wonders of the hot springs of Yugakure!" Reminiscing fondly on the miraculous properties of the water, Nibui felt relaxed at the mere thought of it. "But that is only if we have time! We have more important things to focus on."

"Aiding those in need without looking for compensation is indeed honorable." Zennou hummed lightly as the trees began to grow even more dense, their leaves changing from a dark green to a garrish yellow. The well-worn path that had previously formed underneath them became far less travelled, grass overtaking it as the leaves provided a blanket that worked to hide any tracks.

"Keep a look out." Nibui was brief, his dull green eyes scanning the ground as well as the surrounding areas on their level. It had been a while since he had come through this passage, but he was always bearing a reminder of the dangers of it. At the thought of it, a slight sting came to the spot where his left hand would have been, instead a simple prosthetic taking its place now.

His prosthetic was from an earlier time, that's for sure. It was enough to still allow him to mould chakra, but it wasn't anywhere as advanced as other prosthetics that had come about in recent years. Alas, he didn't have the money to afford something new. "If any of you see anything come up, please wait before doing anything."

"That moment we wait to do something could cause the death of someone." Kanemaru bluntly stated, a slight scowl on his face.

"Or it could cuase a further incident by putting someone in more danger. Bandits will act in smaller numbers when it's only a few travellers targeted, but if a shinobi jumps in, then they will retaliate with far more numbers and force than you expect." Nibui retorted at him. Kanemaru was smart, but he often rushed to conclusions unwisely. "You can believe that you are stronger all you wish, but those numbers can overwhelm you, and it isn't uncommon for missing-nin to join bandit groups for profit."

Expertly pulling her landing to a flip, Kaki joined the trio on the branches rather than continue flinging from branch to branch. "Kane here loves a good fight though! Besides, with the three of us, I'm sure we could take on anything thrown our way!"

"Unnecessary fighting against large numbers will result in needless death, and possibly the end of who we're attempting to save." Zennou put in his opinion as the quartet began to slow down, before finally coming to a stop. They had been travelling for twelve hours at the least, and while setting up camp would be wise, robberies and attacks were most common at night no matter where they were.

"I wasn't saying we needed to kill them, but-" Kanemaru was interrupted by Kaki, who was throwing punches to the air, just stopping short of mock punching Nibui on his chin.

"But we could rough 'em up real good! And then we could take any alcohol _they_ have!" Pumping her fist in the air, Kaki bounced about. "Yeah, then we'll see how they like being on the recieving end!"

Nibui lightly patted Kaki on her head, ruffling her hair. "Now, now, let's not be too hasty. Although," Pulling out a small book, he flipped to a thin section. "You three could always help me put a little money in my pocket, if we see any Yugakure missing-nin with bounties on their head on the way. That is, if you think you all are up to it."

"Don't you think that's a little dangerous for you to suggest to us?" Kanemaru asked, although he did love the possibility to fight that was being proposed.

Shrugging, Nibui placed the book back in his pouch. "I believe you three are all extremely capable of handling basic missing-nin. I may not have seen your abilities in action yet, but I do know when to recognize power and potential when I see it." Pointing directly at each of them, a warm smile was present on his face. "And my vision is clear and full of it when I look at you all."

Those words definitely tugged at the hearts of the trio, no matter how some of them tried not to show it.

However, Nibui's next action quickly replaced that with mock abhorrence.

"Plus, I've really got to _hand _it to you all," Pulling his prosthetic hand, he held it out towards them. "You're some of the strongest kids I've ever seen, and I saw the Seventh Hokage when he was still a teenager in his prime!" Shaking the hand at them, he stiffled a chuckle. "Get it? I said I had to ha- Oh, come now! That was funny!"

Kaki was the first to lightly smack away his hand while laughing. "Sensei, that joke was about as terrible as that frilly shirt of yours!"

"My shirt is fine, thank you very much! It is stylish _and_ works well to hide powders and wires within the frills!" Nibui gave a slight _hmph_ at the child-like girl. "Besides, if you want me to point out everything bad about your outfits, I could go on for days!"

"Nibui, please be quiet for a moment." Kanemaru spoke sharply as he closed his eyes, feeling something within him open as he began to see the chakra of everything around. He had felt the change in nearby chakra a few moments ago, but it was only a few people. But the writhing mass of vile chakra that was following now was...far more than just a few people. "There's a few carts about a dozen kilometres away, but there are a few pursuers following behind. Their chakra is very...cold, and feels wrong."

That was the feeling he often felt when he had been on missions involving assassinations and found who he was tracking down, at this point, he accompanied the feeling with that of criminals, or exceptionally morbid people.

Without saying another word, they quickly set off in the direction of the pursuers, Kanemaru navigating them.

As they arrived at the area, they quickly noted the band of wagons. "The first, third, and fifth wagons are distractions and are carrying nothing. The second and fourth are filled with jewels, and other assorted items." Kanemaru whispered to the other three as he noted the locations of assailants.

Looking over, they saw Nibui quickly writing on a tag tied to a kunai. "Okay, this should alert them to the situation." Taking a deep breath, he held the kunai firm in his hand as he aimed for the seat where the head wagon driver sat. Letting the breath out slowly, he let the blade soar. The team watched as the driver quickly transitioned between being shocked to complacent, never looking up as to not give away the location of the quartet, only looking forward as he nodded.

Pulling the reins tight, he quickened the pace, all of the following carts proceeding to do the same.

"The pursuers are trying to catch up!" Clapping his hands together, Kanemaru jumped forward. Yellow chains of chakra formed and erupted from his back, cutting off their path as well as forming a completely sealed dome far around the destination.

'_Let's see what you three are capable of…' _Nibui slowly thought to himself, believing this to be a good moment to see just what they could do, as well as allow them to get a proper chance to work as a team.

As Kane landed on the ground, a number of bandits surrounded him. However, he was not alone. Starting the fight off with a dynamic move, Kaki wildly slammed her left foot into the bodies of several enemies, knocking them down easily as she landed behind her teammate, the two getting into a fighting stance.

"Don't you think you should be helping them?" Nibui turned to Zennou, who was only watching for the moment.

"Their chakra has been sporadic for quite some time now, they have been excited to fight since you proposed the possibility to them. It would be rude of me to take that away from them." Zennou spoke softly as he only waited for the fight to start.

"Remember, Kane~ We don't need to kill them, just need to make them rethink their entire life choices!" Kaki excitedly said as she rocked back and forth, shifting her weight between her feet as the bandits began to come forth with their weapons drawn.

Being the first to attack yet again, Kaki threw a left hook into the nearest attacker, knocking him directly into the knee she was thrusting upwards. Delivering a number of blows to his stomach, she knocked him backwards, as well as forcing those behind him to fall. Mockingly laughing at the fact that his fellow bandits got hit with the bile that came from his mouth, she didn't waste the moment as she continued attacking. "Yuck! I would hate to be you guys!" Jumping upwards to avoid the slash of a kunai, she slid under the bodies of several others before sweeping her leg under them, knocking them to the ground before delivering a knock-out punch to several of them.

She may not have had the destructive power of Zennou or Kanemaru, but she knew that she could still deliver quite a lot of damage to individual targets. Wrapping her hands behind the throat of a bandit, Kaki felt the satisfying _crack_ of her nose as it broke against her knee that she forced her into. Knocking the bandit to the side, she ducked to avoid the flurry of shurikens that were thrown by a number of the bandits. "Kane, watch out!"

Kanemaru, sensing the attack coming towards him, deflected them with the chakra chains that were currently wrapped around his fists. Throwing the shuriken back at the bandits, the minor pain was enough to cause plenty of them to go down.

"They are doing surprisingly well at holding back. Kanemaru, especially." Zennou commented on the fight from beside Nibui, who was crouching on the branch at this point. He had figured out that it was a fairly good idea for them to hold back if they were standard bandits, but once the more advanced assailants still hidden in the woods made their way to the battle, then the true fight could begin for them.

Albeit morbid, it was a wise strategic move on the hidden shinobi's part. Throwing fodder such as those bandits at Kanemaru and Kaki was a method of gauging their power as well as attempting to tire them out.

Sure enough, as the last of the bandits began to fall unconscious, the ground underneath began to shift. It rocked and turned like the waves on a raging ocean, taking on properties more akin to mud than solid soil. From the trees, a raging bolt of lightning in the form of a feline came towards Kaki, who had begun to become sucked into the mud-like terrain.

However, before it could hit her, the chains on Kanemaru's arms extended to form a multi-layered barrier in front of the electricity. While the forceful lightning pushed back the chains, it ultimately was unable to break through it, and dissipated into wasted chakra. "Don't be fucking cowards." Kanemaru's bloodshot titian eyes pierced the cover provided in the trees and shrubbery.

Slowly, a trio of white haired shinobi emerged, all appearing somewhat similar, but slightly different. "Oi, oi, what's the big idea?! We're just trying to make a living, and you come in here and start beating up on us." The tallest of the three spoke, rubbing his hand behind his head.

"Oh-" Nibui pulled out the Bingo Book from his pouch, and flipped to the same section he had been at. "That's the Kegareta Triplets. They've got a bounty on their heads for quite a few acts of terrorism and robbery." Pointing to the shortest, who sat hunched and close to the ground, Nibui traced it back to the book. "Dokeshi Kegareta, he possesses the Mud Release bloodline."

"And the tallest-" Looking over, Nibui noticed that he had changed his posture. "Oh? Are you going to jump in now?"

"I will not take any chances and lose a member of our team." Zennou jumped forward, one of the black orbs behind his back morphing into a scythe-like weapon. Sighing to himself, Nibui loudly closed the book and jumped forward as well.

* * *

"_Zasshu, please, we need to talk to you." His mother's voice was calm, but a sense of urgency was obvious within it. However, the young boy ran about the residence, unable to focus on anything as he constantly left actions unfinished before moving to something else. _

_Stopping in front of her as he took deep breaths, his eyes darted around the area behind her. "But today was so much fun! I got to train with Manzen today, and she said I was getting so fast!" Almost bouncing in place, he continued. "I mean, I'm sure she was holding back, but she still complimented me! I'm going to try and get faster and faster and become the fastest in the academy when I go there! Hey, what are we eating tonight?" _

"_We have to leave, honey." Her words hit deep within him, and caused him to freeze up entirely. "I'm sorry, but.." _

_Suddenly, his dad entered in, kneeling beside her. She didn't need to take the position as bad guy for this. "I want us to move somewhere different, Zasshu. There are just some things about this place that I don't quite feel right with." _

"_But my friends are here! Our family is all here!" Zasshu loudly yelled at his dad, tears beginning to form in his eyes. _

"_Your mother and I are your family, and we will be with you every step of the way." His smooth voice was doing it's best to put Zasshu at ease, but it wasn't enough. "I promise you, where we are going...You'll be much happier, I promise. It may take some adjusting, but it's for the better." _

_Taking several deep breaths, Zasshu finally pulled at his platinum-blonde hair as tears fell from his eyes. "It's not fair. It's not fair, It's not fair!" Running to his room, he loudly slammed the door behind him. His mother began to stand up, but his father laid his hand on her shoulder. _

"_He doesn't need to know, Haji. Not yet. Let me take the blow for this." _

* * *

The sound of the team travelling was alive with memories of the past. Zasshu had begun reminiscing not long after they began travelling, much to the chagrin of Junko and Kuroka.

"And let's not forget that battle between Junko and Risa during our first Chuunin Exams! Hoo!" Zasshu delivered a series of kicks and punches while in the air. "You two sure put up a fight against each other, but Risa just had the advantage in that one!"

"I made many mistakes in that fight, if I had better use of my bloodline at the time, I believe the outcome would be different." Junko coldly said, not caring to look back on the memory. She had been greatly disappointed in her loss, despite the fact that it was just an unfortunate matchup at the time.

Zasshu shrugged though. "Don't worry, I avenged you against Risa! Boy, she was a tough one though!" Pouting, he turned forward again. "I wish I could've faced Midori in the finals though. But that's okay, because now I'm on a team with her!"

"I don't know, Zasshu, I think your speed would've been a little much for me." Midori struggled to write it out, but she did the best she could by propping the scroll against her arm.

Nodding, Zasshu moved to a new topic. "Say, what were your thoughts when you two were placed with Menma and Shinzo? I remember when I saw that I was under Shinwa-sensei and paired with Zennou and Makoto, I knew that I was with really strong people, so I had to make a mark!" Zasshu recalled the meeting fondly, although it was always slightly odd to him. "Plus, when Zennou showed everything he could do with those eyes of his at the time, I was just like, 'Wow!'" Remembering that he needed to ask Kuroka something, he struggled to contain the question while waiting for the answer from his teammates.

"When I was placed into a team with them, I thought they were insignificant and would need far more guidance than Menma could provide to become adequate shinobi." Junko started off, causing Zasshu to wince at the harshness, almost as if it physically hurt him. "However, I have come to realize that they were adequate from the start, and have only become greater with time."

Midori had grown used to the bluntness of Junko, as this wasn't even the first time she had been told by Junko that she thought she was an inadequate shinobi. As a genin, Junko had been quite arrogant and egotistical when it came to combat prowess. However, there was always one person above her in terms of ego. "I personally was just happy to be in a team with Menma, as Lady Tsunade introduced me to him when I first came to the village! I wish I could've been in a team with Zennou or Hitode, but I grew to like Junko and Shinzo, flaws and all."

Stifling a laugh at the somewhat passive-aggressive comment at the end, Zasshu let out a sigh. "That's right, you and Zennou have been friends for as long as you've been here! I should thank him for being the reason we're friends!" Turning his attention to Kuroka, he began to speak. "Kuroka-sensei, what we-"

"I'm not talking about my genin years with you three." She cut him off quickly, as she had grown increasingly annoyed with the constant chatter from the boy.

"Geez, tough crowd." Zasshu muttered to himself.

"Sensei, what is the state of Takigakure in your world? Are there any key shinobi that we should be on the lookout for while we are there?" Junko spoke up in the rare absence of Zasshu's voice.

"Oh? Well, Takigakure has become another fairly demilitarized village in recent years. They stopped selling that Hero Water in it's pure form, and have refined it into new forms of ration pills that really give you a kick when you use them." Kuroka started, pausing to think about other recent things. "With the dispatch of the Seven-Tails from the village, their military power dropped greatly before they demilitarized. Finding Takigakure Shinobi is pretty rare at this point, honestly. At least, outside of their land that is."

Midori furiously wrote on her scroll, her eyebrows furrowed greatly. "And the Ningyoushi and Shiwasu clans? What happened to them?"

"Oh, them? Well, if I'm not mistaken, they cancelled their practices at about the same time the Hyuuga clan disbanded the practices of Branch and Main families." Kuroka spoke with an almost questioning tone, given that she wasn't completely sure. "I'll tell you all this though, I've only met the current Village Head of Takigakure once, and boy.." A blush fell on her tanned skin. "He made me feel a type of way I hadn't felt in years. It's a shame he was a married man…"

"Please restrain yourself from doing anything embarrasing if we see him during our duration at his village, Kuroka-sensei." Junko replied slowly, after the initial surprise at the statement.

'_They disbanded their practices..?' _Still thinking on her first statement, Midori's fingers traced a spot on her chest.

"It's getting dark, we should make camp." Kuroka quickly said as she came to a stop, causing Zasshu to have to back track after he had been going ahead. '_Geez, I am starving…'_ Forcing down the feeling of a growl coming from her stomach, she unhooked her sleeping bag and laid it on the ground as she began to set up a small tent, the three chuunin following her example.

After they successfully set up their sleeping area and created a small fire quite easily with kindling and wood coupled with Junko's Fire Release, Kuroka took a seat next to it. As the other three prepared to take a seat, she quickly stopped them. "I have a slight exercise for you three to do, a bit of friendly competition."

"I love competition!" Zasshu excitedly started, cutting her off for once.

"I know you do." Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "I want you three to go out and find the largest wild animal you can find, and bring it back for food. The one to come back with the largest catch will be the winner."

"Why aren't you going out too?" Junko asked, her eyebrow raised.

"I've got to keep the camp safe! Besides, I'm sitting, you three are standing!" Kuroka said, shrugging as she laid back. "So, go along now! Let's see who's the best among you~" Waving her hand, she laughed to herself. "Kidding, kidding~"

Within a moment, the three were gone. Lightning as dark as the eternal night surrounded Zasshu as he zipped off. "Where, oh where might something be…" Thinking to himself, a thought came to mind. "Oh! I know!" Covering vast distances in a blink of an eye, he finally came upon a lake the team had passed some time ago. "Well, I may get a little wet, but that's fine!"

Getting as high as he could, Zasshu let himself fall freely into the water as the black lightning crackled every second it surrounded him. Upon hitting the water, electricity immediately shocked every living thing, frying them instantly as well as causing a large amount of the water to evaporate. As he opened his eyes, Zasshu immediately caught sight of a reptillian creature. "Oh, yes. You will be perfect for this, I'd like to see them beat that!"

Hoisting the creature on his shoulder, he grabbed hold of another large fish before blitzing back to the camp in no time. "Oh, Zasshu, you-" Kuroka looked up to see the food that the boy had brought. "Is that...an alligator?" He nodded excitedly as he set it on the ground, followed by the large fish.

"And a taimen!" Zasshu crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Zasshu, the nearest lake was easily an hour back, how did you…" Kuroka could do nothing but look dumbfounded at what he brought back. "It's only been...a few minutes…"

"The others are so slow, aren't they?" Zasshu pouted as he laid against the dead body of the alligator. "By the way, Kuroka-sensei. Are you going to skin it, or are we supposed to do it ourselves? I figure you could make some fancy things with that skin."

Meanwhile, Junko had found a rather large boar grazing on some vegetation. Forming a few hand seals, she formed a steel bow and a number of arrows. Taking in a deep breath as she drew the arrow, she let it out slowly until her lungs were devoid of air. Closing her right eye, she felt her body finally stop its natural shaking. Finally still, she let the arrow fly.

However, hearing the snap of the wire, the boar moved out of the way, causing Junko to pursue it. Sealing the bow into a small scroll within her flak jacket, she formed a number of kunai.

Upon finding the boar again, she began to corral it into a single place by cutting off it's exits with the kunai, scaring it into different locations, until she had finally caught it in a ring. Taking her last kunai she had made, she threw it with frightening force, going exactly through the eye, and making a clean cut through the brain. Grabbing the boar up, she began her journey back to the camp.

When she made it back, she immediately noticed the alligator and taimen that Zasshu had brought, and set the boar beside it. "Has Midori made it back yet?"

"She actually just came back asking for Zasshu to come help her." Looking up, Kuroka had to fight back the urge to salivate. "Boar will be delicious to have, very nice job, Junko."

However, neither of them were prepared for the site of Zasshu suddenly blitzing back into the camp with a massive bear held overhead. Throwing it on the ground, he groaned. "Midori won! Ugh, it's not fair!"

"How did you know I didn't have something bigger?" Junko asked, a hint of venom in her tone.

"Because look at this thing! It's huge! No one could top this!" Zasshu crossed his arms and stuck out his lower lip. "I was the fastest though, I'll say that."

Kuroka's jaw only raised and dropped as she looked over the beast. "H-How in the...What did- How the hell are you kids like this?!"

Midori slowly walked up, a sly smile on her face as she took out her scroll. "He couldn't tell I was coming in any way, what can I say."

**ED 1- Dramaturgy - Rib Kashitarou Itou**

* * *

**Stats- **

**Hibana Zasshu (16 Years Old)**

**Rank: Chuunin**

**Team Shinwa/Team 14, Team Kuroka/Team 8**

**Speed: S++**

**Hyperactivity: S**

**Ability to Focus: C+**

**Optimism: A**

**Annoyance on long trips: B**

**\- Originally coming from Kumogakure, Zasshu and his parents moved to Konohagakure when he was six years old. While he had to take a few months to adjust, he quickly came to love his classmates, even if they found his constant happiness annoying at times. Born with the ability to use Black Lightning and the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, many in Kumo noted how very few in the village compared to the potency of his usage of the two abilities. **

**XXXXX**

**Yoriga Risa (17 Years Old)**

**Rank: Chuunin**

**Team Hametsu/Team 17, Team Meisai/Team 5**

**Chakra Flow: A+**

**Taijutsu: C**

**Similarities to a Volcano: S**

**Strategizing: D**

**Fighting Thrill: A+**

**\- Hailing from a relative clan to the Kamizuru Clan, Risa also transferred to Konohagakure at the age of six. However, due to several reasons, her first opportunity to graduate from the Academy did not go as well as she would have liked, causing her to be held back a year. Despite this, Risa has proven herself to be an extremely capable combatant with a wonderful mastery of her Lava Release, and has been noted to have high potential by several jounin. **

**XXXXX**

**Uzumaki Kanemaru (17 Years Old)**

**Rank: Chuunin**

**Team Hametsu/Team 17, Team Nibui/Team 6**

**Stamina: S**

**Sensory: A+**

**Hard-headedness: A**

**Potential to be Popular In Bondage: A+**

**Filter: D**

**-Noted to possess quite a few gifts of the Uzumaki Clan, Kanemaru is an extreme jack of all trades. He has trained with them for a long duration of his life, and is always working to better them. He is extremely valuable among his specific generation for his sensory capabilities and his fuinjutsu skill, although, he was noted to be quite the troublemaker during his time at the academy, lashing out sometimes unnecessarily at the smaller things. **

* * *

**Hello hello! I know, I know, it has been a while. But, in my defense, since the last time I updated, I had my wisdom teeth removed, my grandma died, and then the world has basically come to an end with this pandemic! So, I've just had a lot on my plate! But I have busted my hump to make sure this chapter got out as soon as I possibly could get it out! So, please, leave a review if possible, and I hope you all enjoyed it! Next chapter, look forward to the dashing Team Han and Team Muko!**


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